What Do You Say To Taking Chances?
by evermore-kisses
Summary: A Lonely Hearts advert sends Lily Evans in a whirlwind romance with someone whose identity is unknown to her, his words enchanting her heart. But what if the one boy she thought she would always hate, has captured her heart with his words? Lily/James.
1. Chapter One: Take A Chance On Me

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters as owned by , although some of the characters in this story are from my own imagination. You're cool, you work it out :)

A/N: So, this is my second fanfiction, hope you like it 3 R&R and I'll love you forever, because just seeing those reviews pop up in my inbox makes me happy, :) I promise to reply to your Reviews, even if you're horrid (which, I actually quite like, because it tells me how to improve) Thankyou, cookie? :D

"**If you change your mind, I'm the first in line, honey I'm still free, take a chance on me, if you need me, let me know, gonna be around, if you got no place to go and you're feeling down." - Abba.**

**Chapter One: Take A Chance On Me**

"_Seventeen years old, slim but curvy girl_

_w/ green eyes and wavy dark hair, 5'4"._

_likes picnics and rainy days. WLTM male,_

_seventeen to eighteen years old, 5'6" or_

_more, attractive or not, shy or not, but _

_fun loving, from any house, for any kind _

_of relationship, lasting, not, or in-between."_

Lily Evans spluttered into her pumpkin juice as she read the article that had just been tossed in front of her. Her jade eyes ran speedily over the "Lonely Hearts" advert that had been marked out, reading it again, hoping that she had misread it. Clearly not, because that advert still, very clearly, highlighted herself in the dark black ink of a feathered quill. She was pretty certain that if there had been a photo accompanying the advert, there she would be, flaming red hair and all. Of course, that detail was far too obvious to put in the advert, so the words had been played around slightly to stop all eyes having turned to her.

"Quinn! I said no! Please tell me that this is some kind of sick joke!" Lily's eyes grew wider as she looked up at the girl in front of her, whose face was lit up with an almost innocent smile.

Quinn Reynalds only wiggled her eyebrows in reply as her eyes glittered sapphire in excitement. It was clear that she was trying to hold back a giggle as she sat down opposite her best friend, kicking her playfully under the table. "Oh, it's for real," she stated, matter of factly, before reaching across the table towards the never-ending stack of warm, golden toast, butter adding a yummy shine to it. For a moment, Lily was tempted to grab her fork and stab it right through Quinn's hand, but, fortunately for her friend, she managed to refrain. Instead, Lily shook her head hopelessly, before placing it down in her hands, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "Oh, c'mon, Lils. S'only an ad," Quinn mumbled, half the slice of toast stuffed into her mouth. "I even left out the hair, kinda! No one will know, promise."

A small sigh left Lily's lips, and she slowly looked up at the brunette in front of her, hey eyes narrowed to show that she was one hundred percent _not _happy about this. But there was no way that she could hate her best friend for longer than thirty seconds, especially not when she was grinning cheesily down at her through a mouthful of toast.

There was no one quite like Quinn Reynalds. Yet there she was, seated across from Lily and blabbing on about anything that entered her mind as Lily's eyes began to wander down the Gryffindor table, all the while pretending to be listening intently to Quinn, nodding her head now and then when it seemed to be the right time to do so.

A few couples were seated with their arms around each other, no doubt whispering sweet nothings over their cornflakes and pumpkin juice; a small group of first years looking nervous about something or other, for it seemed that they always wore the same look on their faces; a larger, louder group of fifth year girls, giggling and squealing occasionally as they all looked in the same direction, whispering behind their hands. Lily found herself following their gaze. At the far bottom of the long wooden table was a clutter of boys. Not just any boys, four in particular. The Marauders.

There was Sirius Black, seemingly telling a story very animatedly to the girls closest to him, occasionally elbowing poor Peter Pettigrew in the head as his scruffy hair fell over his eyes. Remus Lupin, looking more tired than ever, seemed to be oblivious to his friend's storytelling - or the well-being of Peter – and was staring into his bowl, his skin as pale as the milk that it contained.

And there he was. James Potter, Gryffindor heart-throb, staring right into Lily's eyes, his signature smile stretching across his face. A strand of dark brown hair stuck up from his head, something that annoyed Lily to no end. Then again, it was hard to find anything about Potter that didn't get on her last nerve.

Lily shook her head at him, narrowing her eyes. He winked at her in reply, his smile turning more and more into a grin with each second that passed. Frustrated, Lily averted her gaze, nodding politely at Remus who had taken a time out from cornflake watching.

"Fine, we'll do it." Lily muttered, cutting Quinn off mid-sentence. "But only to get Potter off my back."

* * *

James Potter pushed his glasses up with his index finger, wrinkling up his nose as he did so, in disgust at the Potions paper in front of him. Atop the yellowing parchment was the title 'Bezoar and its Uses', followed by a mass of blank parchment. He was sat in the common room, his brown eyes reflecting the dying embers of the fire.

As soon as the day's lessons had finished, Remus had gone up to his dorm to catch up on much needed sleep, the scratches that marked his body going unmentioned by the rest of the Marauders. Peter was asleep in the high-backed armchair across from James, his round face seemingly calm as his small mouth flopped open to show his crooked teeth. His short but stout frame seemed to fit most peculiarly into the chair, too short yet large enough to be seated on the soft cushion. James knew that if Sirius had been there, her would have laughed raucously at the sight in front of him, before extracting a permanent-marking quill from his bag and proceeding to draw a lopsided moustache upon Peter's upper lip.

James sighed as he pushed his Potions paper aside, and began to pack his belongings into his tattered bag. _If only I had Lily_, he thought, knowing how their Potions teacher had an almost creepy favouring for the attractive redhead. In fact, even Remus would do, with his uncanny ability for storing information in his mind. But no one compared to Lily Evans, the one girl in the whole of Hogwarts who despised his every bone. It was almost as though she went out of her way to display her almost torturous hate for him, but James had a strange feeling that her hating him made her even more entrancing, the Forbidden Fruit. The way her scorching hair fell down her shoulders in sleek waves, the way her green eyes sparkled as she laughed, the way that her clothes were smart but hugged every gorgeous curve on her slim form. Everything about her made James want her more than anything. But no matter what he did, she always despised him.

A slam pulled James out of his thoughts, causing him to jump and knock his glasses slightly askew. He blinked up at Sirius, unaware of him having entered into the common room, too lost in his own thoughts. A wide grin was on Sirius' face, stretching mischievously up his cheeks.

"This is the answer to Miss Lily Evans." Sirius stated, clapping his hands to his hips once he had tapped his finger on top of the supposed cure. James cast his eyes down and saw...

"Mate... this is The Daily Prophet." James said, raising his eyebrows. "Exactly," replied Sirius. "No need to thank me." He dropped down into the chair beside Peter, flicking him on the forehead as he did so.

Several minutes later, James still hadn't got what the hell his best friend was talking about. He began to flick absent mindedly through the paper in front of him, skimming through the pages until a section caught his eye. Reading through it, he turned to face Sirius, not at all surprised to see him feeding Peter leftover crumbs and fluff from the side of his chair.

"Lonely Hearts?" James exclaimed, looking at Sirius in utter disbelief. "Please explain to me how the Lonely Hearts column is the answer to getting Evans." James turned back to the newspaper spread out in front of him. There was no more than twenty adverts in the Lonely Hearts section for Hogwarts, all of which were looking for boys. _Girls can be so needy_, he thought, rolling his eyes. A sinking feeling entered his stomach at the realisation that it was Sirius who had come up with this plan, the same Sirius whose plans usually ended in death or, at the very least, a fatal injury.

"Well, let's face it, Lily _clearly_ has the hots for me, so no amount of flirting on your part is gonna win her over. I mean, have you _seen_ me?" Sirius paused his attempts to see how close he could get to suffocating Peter by pinching his nose, pointing to his face instead for effect. That was Sirius all over; completely and utterly in love with himself. "Anyway, I was reading up on something or other, and I thought 'whoa, James totally needs to get over Evans. I mean, of course, we've all been thinking the same thing for the past few years because, seriously mate, it's not normal, and it's really quite annoying and all..."

"Sirius," James interrupted, urging him to get to the point of his plan.

"Oh, right, yeah. Well, I saw these articles, and it came to me. Lonely Hearts! I mean, it's not _that_ bad for your reputation. Besides, you get to date multiple girls at once for 'any kind of relationship' and you never know what could happen! Sure, some girls might be butt ugly, but you needn't _date_ them. Just, y'know." Sirius winked and shimmied his hips in his chair, causing his floppy hair to fall over his eyes, in a completely sexy way, and James to toss his bag at him.

"You know, that could work."

The sudden voice made the two boys jump as their eyes darted to the source of it. A bedraggled Remus stepped down from the top of the stairs which lead to the boys' dorms. His skin was pale and waxy, his normally sleek hair ruffled and thin, looking almost black in the dim lighting compared to its usual pale brown. Two red scratches ran up his neck, vanishing behind his ear up into his hair. He walked slowly towards the boys in his dark red pyjamas, as if each step he took was causing him great pain. Shrugging slightly, he continued. "At the very least, it will make Lily jealous to see you with other girls. Anyway, I couldn't sleep with Sirius giggling like a three year old down here."

Sirius' grin spread back across his face, nodding his head at James as if to say 'I told you do.' James only rolled his eyes in reply and aimed a playful punch ad his best friend's shoulder. Remus, knowing - that within seconds – the two boys would be in a full on play fight, rolling on the floor and all, placed his finger down on the first advert.

"Let's start from the top, shall we?"


	2. Chapter Two: Two Is Better Than One

A/N: I don't own the Harry Potter crew, fact. So, last chapter had pretty much minimal description, and here's your description 3 Please R&R if you like it, or even if you don't, I'd love to know exactly what you think :) Hope you like it

"**I remember what you wore on that first day, you came into my life and I thought Hey, you know, this could be something. 'Cause everything you do and words you say, you know that it all takes my breath away, and now I'm left with nothing." - Boys Like Girls & Taylor Swift**

**Chapter Two: Two is Better than One**

"Lily! Get your fat ass out of bed!"

Lily rolled over onto her back, pulling the covers over her head to block out the noise of her best friend's screeching voice as she whipped the curtains around Lily's four poster bed open so violently, it was a miracle that they even remained intact. Even through her duvet, she could slightly see the brightness of the rising sun that held promise to a warm day. A warm day that Lily wouldn't see if she didn't get out of bed anytime soon. A small groan left her mouth as she refused to open her eyes. She felt the duvet being tugged out from her grasp and squirmed to try to take hold of it again. But no one stood in the way of Quinn when she was on a mission; the same mission that she seemed to have to go through every morning nowadays. Lily was _not _a morning person, to say the least. She was such a fighter in the mornings that it took several attempts and the help of two of Lily's other friends to discard the thick duvet on the floor.

"Get up!" Quinn yelled for the second time, this time right in her ear, but Lily only tossed her arm in the general direction of the voice, attempting to bat Quinn away without opening a single firmly clamped shut eye. Without the cover on, Lily's lithe frame was marked with goosebumps running up her legs until they met her dark green girl boxers, and along the rest of her body that wasn't covered by her plain white vest that gently hugged her hips.

"No..." she mumbled softly, burying her face into the auburn hair that had, until moments ago, been pooling around her head, casting an angelic appearance. Quinn tutted, placing her hands on her hips and mumbling something to Lily that she was too far into sleep to fully understand. When she didn't hear a reply the brunette grabbed the glass of water off of Lily's bedside table and – without a second thought – tossed its contents over Lily.

Lily sat up with a gasp, covered completely in freezing cold water, green eyes glaring up at the girl stood over her, her own eyebrows raised to show how very _un-_sorry she was. Quinn shrugged, turning her back on Lily as she began to pat her hair in an attempt to dry out as much of it as possible before they left for breakfast. "You're a bitch, Quinn Reynalds. I do hope you realise that." Lily muttered, shaking her head from side to side after having decided that that method could have more effect. She shot daggers across the room at Quinn as she rubbed the water out of her eyes with her fists.

"You left me no choice, Lils. Besides, I would've thought that you'd want to read the replies to my amazing antics yesterday." Quinn shot back to Lily as she paced back to sit on the end of the king-sized bed next to Lily's, fully clothed in her uniform already, hair tied back into a simple ponytail. In the moment that the two girls caught each others' eyes, both sets – blue and green – shone in excitement. Of course, Lily would never admit to said joy, but Quinn could tell from the way that she darted around the room, tossing on her grey uniform, that she was bursting to read the the replies that they only hoped would arrive by owl over breakfast.

Ten minutes later, Quinn chattering loudly to the small group of friends, the four girls headed down to breakfast, Lily hastily tucking in her white shirt as they went. After all, she was still Lily Evans.

* * *

James Potter watched in awe as Sirius shook salt all over his breakfast, a dish that consisted of three slices of toast, four sausages, six poached quails' eggs, two strips of perfectly sliced bacon, and a large dollop of what seemed to be whipped cream. His mouth fell open slightly as he looked down at his own plate, upon which were two slices of toast with jam, and, beside that, a bowl of soggy cereal, milk almost to the top. But it wasn't the large amount of food piling up on Sirius' plate that shocked James, for he had seen him eat almost ten times as much in a single sitting. No, it was the inordinate amount of salt that Sirius had spent the past few minutes pouring onto his breakfast that confused him.

"Do you want some food with that salt?" He asked, a laugh bubbling out of his lips at the look on Sirius' face, as if James had just committed a crime. As usual, Sirius' floppy hair fell past his ears in dark black strands that suggested that he had just been dragged through a hedge backwards, forwards, and then sideways. The front layers of his hair flopped messily over his grey eyes that were wide in mock horror at James' question. Sirius was the kind of boy who never shaved closely, who allowed his hair to grow shaggy, yet he cared so much about his appearance that he seemed to spend hours on it just to achieve such a carefree look. Besides, it drown the girls crazy.

"You're kidding, right? Surely you know what _else_ tastes of salt?" Sirius replied, a grin spreading across his face, and he winked playfully at James, wiggling his slightly bushy eyebrows.

"Siriuuuuuuus!" James groaned, laughing and elbowing his best – and more than a little dirty – friend in the ribs. He had to admit it, his best friend was definitely the playboy of Hogwarts. A nervous giggle came from Peter's lips. Clearly, he didn't understandthe joke, and who could blame him? It wasn't Peter's fault that he wasn't the most attractive boy around, to say the least. He was short, a mere 4'11", and his excess weight didn't do his lack of height any favours, making him into a podgy dwarf-like boy, with thin, wispy blonde hair and crooked yellow teeth. Even his fingers were chubby.

Remus was again pulling the silent act, though the dark circles under his deep brown eyes seemed to be less visible now that he'd had a decent night's sleep. It looked as though he'd been staring at the same piece of blank parchment for the past half hour, as if it was marked with invisible ink. In fact, he hadn't even touched his cornflakes.

Suddenly, Sirius coughed once, looking from James to about three metres away from where they were sat, and back again. Knowing exactly what that cough meant James' hand automatically flew to his hair, his fingers pressing firmly down on the soft brown strands in an attempt to flatten it down even just slightly. As usual, his efforts failed, and he pulled his hand back, hair more ruffled than it was before. But it wasn't a question of vanity that had caused his sudden action – he was no Sirius, that was for sure. Of course, he cared about his appearance as much as the next did, but no where close to the level that Sirius did. After all, there wasn't much point when the girl who you had your heart set on hated your guts. A heart that had just begun to beat twice as fast.

For there she was, dropping down onto the Gryffindor table mere metres from him, looking unusually joyful for this time of the day. Her curls fell delicately around her pale, heart-shaped face, the back slightly messier than usual, a fact that made James ponder the cause. In fact, if you looked closely enough, there was a general air of rush in her this morning, from the way that she sat perching on the very edge of the bench, to the way a sliver of her white shirt fell out from underneath her grey, gold and red jumper. As she reached for the huge jug of pumpkin juice, James had to resist the urge to jump up and help her, knowing that if he did so, she would hex him into tomorrow. So, instead, he stared.

"Hey, Prongs." Sirius' eyes kept darting between his friend and the small, almost fragile looking, redhead. "Prongs." He continued, repeating the nickname for James, fixing his eyes on the boy in question instead, desperately trying to pull James back into the real world, for he hated the attention not being on himself. "Prongsy!" He practically yelled in James' ear, causing him to finally pull his eyes away from Lily as though waking from a deep slumber.

"Ungh?" James replied, still clearly entranced.

"That friend of Lily's is pretty fine, if ya get me." Sirius said, tilting his head to one side and narrowing his eyes slightly in an almost sexy manner. They swam over every inch of Quinn's body; her hair, a chocolate brown colour and cut into a sea of messy waves, the top layer pulled into a high ponytail; her eyes, a bright sky of blue that sparkled as she spoke excitedly to the girls around her; her ovular face set with cute cheekbones and a slightly tanned complexion. Her Gryffindor jumper seemed to be two sizes too big, but in a way that practically oozed sex appeal, almost casting the impression of wearing a boyfriend's clothes. Of course, without the pleated skirt that had risen to mid-thigh when she had sat, she wouldn't quite have been able to pull It off.

A low whistle left Sirius' lips as he gaped at her, and all four Marauders jumped as the noise echoed through the screech of a hundred owls, their wings beating in the giant ceiling of the Great Hall as they searched for the recipient of the letters that they carried. A light brown tawny skidded down in front of Peter, causing James to pull his bowl out of the way at the last second to avoid spilt milk. Peter swiftly paid the owl and untied the rolled up Daily Prophet that was attached to its leg, unrolling it and getting lost behind it within seconds.

Further down the table, a chorus of squeals caught James' attention. A snowy owl landed gracefully in front of Lily Evans, excited looks being thrown across her friends, one of the girls clapping in what must be anticipation, all except for the girl that Sirius had pointed out. The girl – whose name James had forgotten, or had perhaps never learnt – was munching on her toast, waving her hand as if to disperse the loud noise. And there, in the middle of it all, was a sight that none of the Marauders had ever before seen. Lily Evans was blushing. As she cast 'shushing' movements around the group, her cheeks began to burn the exact colour of her hair. She stuffed the letter in her bag, allowing her hair to fall in front of her face to hide the smile on her face.

"Oi, Evans! Got yourself a love letter?" James yelled across at her, gaining her attention for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He laughed, blowing kisses in her direction as she grew an even darker shade of red. Anything to get her to notice him. Surely being hated was better than being not known at all?

"Piss off, Potter." She called back, her sweet voice radiating down the table.

James grinned. It was definitely better.


	3. Chapter Three: There She Goes

Disclaimer: All the original characters belong to Miss Rowling, not me :(

A/N: Uck, so I know that nothing much is happening, but I hate rushing to the point, shoot me? 3 I actually love James in this chapter though :')

"**There she goes, there she goes again, racing through my brain, and I just can't contain, this feeling that remains. There she goes, there she goes again, pulsing through my brain, and I just can't contain, this feeling that remains" - The La's**

**Chapter Three: There She Goes**

"Lily?"

It was a boiling hot Potions lesson down in the dungeons of Hogwarts castle , the steam that was pouring out of the multiple cauldrons scattered around the room making the air warm and humid as it stuck to the students' skin. The girl in question was sat beside her cauldron, her long red locks dropping gently around her face. In her hands was the one thing that she hadn't been able to get out of her head all day, and her small fingers toyed with it curiously, passing it between her hands as though it would burn her through her skin if she held it still for more than a minute. Slowly, pulling herself out of the trance she had – until moments before – been unaware that she was living in, her thoughts only enhanced by the muggy smoke flooding the dimly lit room, she looked up. Moss eyes met the blue of her slightly rounded – and slightly enchanting – Potions professor, whilst he grinned down at her.

"Yes, Professor Slughorn?" She replied, blinking a few times to allow her doe to adjust to the smoky atmosphere. Before her, Slughorn looked inquisitively from Lily to her cauldron, allowing his eyes to settle on the soft golden surface of the potion it held. Felix Felicis, the potion of luck. Just a few drops could give you the luckiest day of your life, and Lily had managed to conjure one up with barely any help from her Potions textbook, and in almost record timing. Around her, her classmates still had hours of work left to do, many of their potions showing an absence of certain ingredients already. Again, the redhead began to slip into a world of her own as Slughorn inspected her potion, muttering the word 'remarkable' far too often.

"Well, Miss Evans, seeing as you have finished with, let's see..." - he stopped to look at the clunky pocket watch in fold of his cloaks - "a full hour left to kill, I'm going to ask you to assist a fellow Gryffindor." Slughorn's bright eyes darted excitedly around the room in search of someone to team Lily up with, bobbing up and down a little on his pointed shoes that sparkled as though just polished. "Aha," he muttered, raising his eyebrows at the group of Gryffindors in the corner, their backs to Lily as they laughed loudly at the peculiar purple steam rising from one of the students' cauldrons. "Mr Potter."

It took every ounce of Lily's sense to not argue as Slughorn pointed her in the direction of, indeed, her enemy and most hated James Potter. Dragging her bag across the tiled floor, she frowned and pressed her lips tightly together in anger. All she wanted was for Potter to fail at _everything, _life included, yet here she was being pushed into him on the path to success. It was screwed up, and in the moment she dropped her bag down beside the boy, she felt as though she had finally lost all decency. Pushing up the sleeves of her fitted white shirt, she grabbed hold of her Potions book and slammed it against Potter's shoulder, for he was too tall for her to reach his head. Just hitting him made her feel insanely better, and they look on Sirius and Remus' faces as they turned to her was one of pure respect. Remus even smiled through his tired appearance, but it was nothing compared to Sirius' wide grin.

As James turned to face whomever had just whacked a 750 page hardback on his shoulder, he wasn't in the slightest surprised to see Lily afore him. Her usual pale cheeks were glowing a soft red in what James could only explain to be anger, although he wished that it was due to just being in his presence. Red hair flamed out around her face, representing her foul mood in a tangle of curls, and her deep green eyes glared up at James in a way that showed pure hatred and disgust. Never had she seemed more beautiful in James Potter's eyes.

"Good afternoon, Evans. You do realise, I would have preferred it by far if you'd used that weapon of yours on my ass, surely?" James beamed down at her, flashing her his usual cocky 'I-just-told-a-dirty-joke-involving-you,-what'cha-gonna-do-about-it' smile, as though Lily would dive on him, just like every other sane – and possibly insane – girl at Hogwarts did. Instead, she slammed the book on his muscular chest. Twice as hard. That was what she was going to do about it.

James held up his hands, palms facing Lily, and laughed softly, happily, her simply being close made things brighter. "Move out of my way, Potter," Lily almost spat his name, pushing her way past him with a little aid from her pointy elbows. For a few moments, she stared almost aimlessly into his cauldron, tipping her head from side to side occasionally in thought. She allowed her hair to fall into her eyes, forming a curtain between her and James – who remained silent behind her. Of course, if she'd known the exact placement of his eyes, she would've most probably hexed him straight into the Hospital Ward, for his eyes had dropped to admire how her pleated skirt accentuated her small bum when she leant over, a sight that James had noticed many a time before. A soft smile played on his lips; a smile of hope that was just a little more innocent than his full blown dirty grin that usually graced his cheeks.

"Potter...what in Merlin's beard were you thinking when you decided to add rat droppings to your potion? In fact, where did you even _get _the rat droppings?" Lily spluttered, lifting her hair and tucking it behind her slightly small ears so that she could see the Marauders. Every set of eyes – including James', though reluctant – turning to look at Sirius, whose hair was clinging to his face slighting as he poked the contents of his cauldron, giggling madly. Whatever it held, it definitely wasn't Felix Felicis, even the dark surface was the completely wrong density, and was frothing almost threateningly; not that Sirius cared. As though he sensed the eyes boring into his skull, he turned his head, eyes suddenly wide. In turn, he looked at all the Marauders and Lily, before speaking. "Whatever it is, I had nothing to do with it. Unless it was something ingenious like slipping a few bogie flavoured Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans into Snivellus' cauldron, because that one _was _me."

Lily raised her dark eyebrows, looking in the direction of a greasy haired Slytherin who was glaring angrily at his potion, and flicking through the blotted pages of his tattered book, clearly looking for answers. Severus Snape wasn't exactly the Marauders' favourite person, to put it nicely. He was, however, their favourite victim, and Lily's closest male friend, ever since they had started Hogwarts. After all, he didn't seem to have many – if any – others.

Lily simply rolled her eyes, and turned back to the mess in front of her. She didn't have time to start over, and she hated Slughorn for putting her in a situation of such devastation. James, instead of helping her, let his eyes notice every feature on her gorgeous face for what seemed to be the hundredth time. He loved the way her brow furrowed in concentration, and he noticed a faint smudge of black ink on the end of her nose from a previous lesson. It was probably for the best that he didn't offer advice, for Lily hated to be corrected, especially by _Potter_.

"It looks like a complete mess!" Lily shouted suddenly, throwing her arms out and clasping onto her wand in distaste.

"Actually, it practically radiates beauty." James said, his voice low and without even the slightest hint of sarcasm, his eyes still stuck to her face as though it was heaven and – to him – it was. The confusion left Lily's face as she turned to face Potter once more, the rest of the Marauders fast at work, except, of course, Sirius, who was trying his hardest to appear as though the last thing on his mind was eavesdropping. The give away? His concoction was now a deep shade of magenta. Lily couldn't help the blush that crept into her cheeks, coughing to hide her reddening face and casting her attention back to the potion that James Potter had clearly slated.

"Okay, here's what I need you to do." And that was exactly what he did do, not wanting to let down the girl that he'd falling in low with in second year.

* * *

Half an hour later, Lily's hair slung up in a high ponytail with absent strands falling around her face, the class was filing out of the dungeons. The Marauders weren't far behind, tossing the bottle of Felix Felicis that they'd stolen from James' and Lily's success at turning a disaster around between them, before James expertly caught it and dropped it casually into his cloak pocket. Ignoring the racket that the boys were making, Lily slipped up into an almost unnoticeable passageway that she knew led straight to the Gryffindor common room. Inside the slim corridor, her breath caught in her mouth, her pink lips almost sealing the air in with no escape, whilst her heart sped so fast, it was a surprise that there was no heart-shaped hole in Lily's chest. Her head spun alike the carousel at a fairground that she had once visited with her Muggle parents. There was only one reason for the high that she was feeling, and it wasn't the strange mixtures of smoke that had been playing with her nose for the past few hours. No, in Lily Evan's smooth hands was an unopened envelope. And she was about to open it.

"_How did you know that dark haired girls_

_are my favourite? There's nothing at all_

_attractive about a stereo-typical blonde._

_You sound beautiful, and it's odd to think_

_that we could pass each other everyday._

_In fact, you could even be my best friend_

_but, then again, I don't have many female_

_friends. Maybe you could be my first? And_

_maybe you could put the word girl in front _

_of that 'friend'. I'm 5'9", brunette, hazel eyes_

_with glasses. Let's just say, attractive is my_

_forte. Write me back, unless you're in the _

_Slytherin house, in which case, forget it. _

_P.S, don't catch a cold in the rain."_

As Lily read the last line, the heavens appeared to open, rain cascading down in rivulets from the dark grey sky. _Like fate,_ Lily thought, almost sprinting to the owlery to send a reply off. Funny how a day could change so fast, how, even when it seemed to be at it's darkest, just a ray of sunshine could make the world a whole lot lighter. If she's stayed at the window for a second longer, she would have noticed a crack of sunlight fighting its way through the thick clouds. Funny.


	4. Chapter Four: What Is This Feeling?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JKR does :) If I did, mind, I would make sure James and Lily didn't die, because they're so cute :)

"**Every little trait how ever small, makes my very flesh begin to crawl, with simple utter loathing, there's a strange exhilaration in such total detestation, it's so pure, so strong. Though I do admit it came on fast, still I do believe that it can last, and I will be loathing, loathing you my whole life long." - Wicked **

**Chapter Four: What is this Feeling?**

The bubbles tickled her bare skin in the warm, clear water. A smell alike lavender mixed with the purest sugar swept around the room that seemed to be almost dewy with the heat of the glistening water, a sharp contrast to the bitter cold autumn's day outside. Through the vast foggy windows that stretched from the ornate gold ceiling down to meet huge, pristine mother-of-pearl tiles, shone the mixture of hues that portrayed the early sunset. Purples, pinks, yellows, reds and oranges all lit up the glowing room, making it seem much more perfect - almost heavenly. A soft dripping was the only noise, which was quickly silence to finish off the image of perfection.

Translucent skin met transparent water as Lily Evans closed her sea-green eyes, trying to burn this moment into her mind forever. The water around her seemed to hug her bare body, sending all of her troubles into a place far, far away. Just what she needed, and with the strip of parchment that she had earlier received placed at a safe distance from the edge of the enormous bath that took up most of the floor of the Prefects' Bathroom, she allowed a small smile to creep onto her face. Her feet no longer ached from running from the dungeons up to the owlery, and then onto the Gryffindor common room. Now her poor toes seemed almost weightless as they floated atop the healing water.

Wasn't love a funny thing? The exhilaration it caused, the butterflies flapping their fragile wings, the sudden power that your stomach acquired to perform cartwheels and somersaults, and the frantic beating of heart against ribs. And all Lily had received was a letter, or what could be better described as a note. Who from was a painful mystery; a mystery that Lily was determined to solve, no matter what she had to do, the measures she had to go to. Cocky, but in a fun way, carefree, enchanting and thoughtful. Perfect? It seemed so. Was he _that_ guy? Was she_ that _girl? She could only hope so. Strange how just yesterday she'd been Little Miss Independent, almost mocking the idea of Lonely Hearts, and now she was a pile of, well, mush.

Slowly, she lifted herself out of the bath and onto the soft cotton of her white towels, wrapping herself up in one and ruffling at her red hair with another, her curls limp and hanging straight from the water that was dripping off the strands to land around her feet. For a few moments, she just stood there, looking pensive and grinning, before crossing the room to dress in the clothes that she had brought along with her. Dropping her towel, Lily pulled on her plain white briefs, bending over to pick up her matching bra from the pile. But when she stood up, she was no longer alone.

The noise of the portrait that hid the entrance to the bathroom closing made Lily start, her arms moving to cover her completely nude upper-half. Her head snapped around to see who it was who had just walked in on her, wearing nothing but white pants. _Please let it be a girl_, Lily's mind shouted, her eyes wide in horror as she dropped her hair to cover the upper half of her bare back. No such luck. One hundred percent male, one hundred percent in shock, and one hundred percent _not _a prefect, stood James Potter.

For a few moments, all the two could do was gape open mouthed at one another, both sets of cheeks flushing a sudden pink. It took Lily less time to recover, and she was snatching up her towel before James had even blinked – if he was at all able to. There she was, the love of his life, standing afore him, wearing only pants. That kind of thing only ever happened in his dreams, and if he hadn't lost all power to move, he would have pinched himself. This was better than any fantasy, this was reality. And yet, he couldn't allow his eyes to stray lower than her own, though every part of him was begging to explore her smooth body.

"Get the hell out!" Lily screeched at him, waking her from his reverie. No witty comment coming to mind, he turned on the heels of his black converse, and threw himself out of the doorway, leaving Lily alone as she fell to the floor, tossing on her clothes. Outside, James leant against the stone wall surrounding the portrait, his heart fluttering excitedly and his stomach wringing itself into knots. Every male part of him was begging him to go back in, grab her by her perfect hips, and kiss her embarrassment away. It was only the sane part of him that over-ruled his desire, instead leaving his brain muddled and confused. He had just walked in on _Lily Evans_ getting dressed! Surely he should be happy? Only he wasn't. No, James Potter was hit by the sudden sadness that reminded him of what he would never have, and it hurt; a lot. And what did James do when he was sad? Act like a jerk, is the answer to that.

"You sure know how to make a guy's dreams come true, Evans!" He called to her as she pushed the portrait open, hiding behind her mass of red hair that was probably the same colour of her cheeks, and that was his cue, to slip into the bathroom.

* * *

Lily threw herself down on the sheets of her four poster, the rushing of footsteps chasing up the stone steps after her, the harsh mutters of her friends' voices reaching her ears as they tossed worried words to one another. "Lils? Lily, are you okay?" Quinn called out to her, running through the heavy door into their dorm, Taylor, Amie and Katy close behind. Just moments before, they had witnessed Lily run through the common room, her small frame shaking uncontrollably, hair damp and limp down her back, tears slipping down her pale face. There are a few sights that you never want to witness in life, and seeing their usually down-to-earth friend in such a state made their hearts throb and the smiles to drop off their faces. Now, with all four girls crowded around Lily, they glanced at one another uncertainly. Quinn grabbed the wooden hairbrush off the bedside table, gently brushing out the knots in Lily's crazy hair whilst stroking it softly in an attempt to calm her sobs. The others just sat there, worried looks on their faces, for they were unsure of how to react. Your best friend really does know you better than any other.

"That's right, sweetie. Cry it all out." Quinn soothed, intertwining her fingers with Lily's slim ones, squeezing them gently as Amie twisted a strand of red hair that she had just pulled out from Lily's eyes. A few more sobs slipped from her lips, her face hidden in the mattress that was rapidly getting soaked from both tears and her soaking hair. Quinn frowned slightly, tucking her free arm around the red-head's slim waist in a kind of retarded hug. "Lily Bear, you're getting your sheets damp, and we don't want you to catch a cold now, do we?" At Quinn's gentle but demanding words, Lily sat up and dropped her head onto her best friend's shoulder, her sobs subsiding a little as Quinn restarted stroking her long hair. Pushing a strand behind Lily's small ears, Quinn looked down into the glistening green eyes, wet with tears. "Do you want to tell us what this is all about?"

Lily grimaced, her pink, chewed lips still wobbling a little from crying, and her eyes were on the verge of turning bloodshot. Quinn stopped a sudden tear by pressing her thumb to it, proceeding to wipe the rest of the brine out of her eyes too. "James Potter just walked in on me in nothing but my pants!" She choked, hiding her face in Quinn's neck out of embarrassment. She couldn't help it, Quinn Reynalds laughed, the mellow sound bubbling up from her throat and slipping past her lips into the room. Once she'd started, she couldn't stop, taking no notice of the mortified face of the girl burrowing into her shoulder, and those seated around her. Instead, she shrugged. Perhaps it was the frivolity of her best friend, whose head was cast back in laughter, or perhaps it was all the pent up anger dying to get out, but whatever it was, Lily Evans began to chuckle. Gotta laugh or you'd cry.

* * *

"I just saw Lily Evans naked."

James dropped onto his bed, staring blindly up at the wood above him, his mind a million miles away in some place beautiful. His stomach rolled energetically, almost as if it was in anticipation for something, and his heart seemed to tremble, even a quarter hour after seeing that exact sight of such a beautiful girl who smelled of honey and looked just as tasty. A thud sounded across the room as Sirius dropped a huge book onto the floor in surprise – why he was even holding a book in the first place was a mystery to them all. "No. Way," he replied, leaping onto the bed beside James, his palm raised ready for a high five. This was exactly what he needed, to get his mind off of the picture burning into his brain and joke about it with his friends, laugh about every single detail and then plan something stupid, like stealing the exact pair of pants and hanging them from the astronomy tower. Tempting. James, reaching his own hand across to his wide eyed companion, was interrupted by Remus' hoarse voice, as he also dropped down next to James, though seated with his feet firmly on the floor. "I wondered why she was crying," he muttered under his breath, unaware that James could hear his every word. For, indeed. Remus had seen her dash to her room like a scared little rabbit. Ten minutes later, James had appeared, swaggering through the portrait hole in his usual annoying manner, jet black hair ruffled in a completely gorgeous way, slightly damp as water dripped down his tanned face, his glasses slightly steamed up.

James' hand dropped mid-journey, as he turned to stare at Remus, whose face was riddled with a frown. "Wait, Evans was crying?" He bit down on his lip hard, blood forming on the torn skin, a frown settling on his own face as he mirrored his friend's concerned expression. He'd never meant to hurt her, just stop himself from tearing apart on the inside. Needless to say, it really hadn't made any difference. He was still feeling the ache of his heart longing for the one thing that it could never hold, his lips aching to kiss her own, and his fingers wishing to intertwine with hers. Doesn't un-requited love suck?

Silence befell the Marauders as every set of eyes turned to James, whose face seemed to be suddenly distorted in... anger? Or was it sadness that he was feeling in his moments of pain? "Dude, were you really _that _bad?" Sirius asked suddenly, seeming to have plucked the words out of this air. His mouth lolled open as he stared at his best friend in disbelief. In the moment that their eyes met, even James' foul mood couldn't stop the grin spreading onto his face, alighting his dark blue eyes as he elbowed Sirius sharply in the ribs. The pair laughed care-freely, a noise which only grew greater as Sirius toppled off the edge of the bed as a result of his excess laughing. In fact, even Remus cracked a smile.

"No, dumbass!" James managed to gasp between laughs, his sides aching. "She was in the Prefects' Bathroom, and I kinda, maybe, a little walked in." At this fact, Sirius' face crinkled with a new round of laughter, forcing him to collapse onto his back. "You... legend," he gasped, pounding his fists against the hard wood floor as tears formed in his eyes. If that was so, why was the last thing James felt was legendary?

**A/N: Bleurgh, these chapters are really short :/ I'll make the next few longer, fingers crossed. Thanks for all the subscriptions guys! I love you. I have to say, I pretty much love this chapter, just because of James being an idiot and his stupid comments. Next chapter will be up soon :) Hope you enjoyed it! **~ evermorekisses


	5. Chapter Five: Kiss With A Fist

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter in any way :(

**Dedication: **This chapter is dedicated to Katie, because without her, I wouldn't even have written this story :')

"**You hit me once, I hit you back, you gave a kick, I gave a slap, you smashed a plate over my head and I set fire to our bed." - Florence And The Machine**

**Chapter Five: Kiss With A Fist**

A sharp tapping awoke the sleeping boys, causing mutterings of death threats to spread through the dormitory. One thing that the Marauders loved more than anything was lying in till late on Saturday mornings, refusing to rise until well after lunch. Well, at least, they would stay in bed for that long if their scruffy haired friend wasn't permanently hungry and practically cried if he missed a meal and had once tried to eat his pillow in his sleep. On the best days, they would sleep until two, before sneaking into the Hogwarts kitchens and bribing the elves to give them the best food that they had; and they had a _lot_ if good food! There was only one thing more important than sleep to James Potter – Lily.

Slipping out of bed, James felt the sudden chill of the approaching winter, wearing nothing but his Quidditch jersey and his dark blue boxers. Hair ruffled and yawning, he pulled the window clasp as he rubbed his heavy eyes with his fists, sleepily. Through the window flew a snowy owl, its wings dropping by its sides during its perfect landing on top of Sirius' head, which was face down in his plump pillows.

"Gerroff," Sirius muttered, too tired to even shake the owl off. In fact, James wouldn't have been at all surprised if Sirius was unaware as to exactly what was resting upon his mop of dark hair.

Blinking repeatedly, James reached for the owl's protruding leg. He swiftly untied the letter, despite the sleep in his eyes causing him to take several attempts, and unrolled the parchment in his hands. The owl, happily feasting on a handful of treats, hooted softly. Despite the large owl situated on his head, Sirius appeared to have already fallen back to sleep, though Remus Lupin was stretching his arms around in his own bed. James fixed his hazel eyes on the neat writing that stained the parchment in front of him, placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"_How did _you _know that _I_ like brunettes?_

_You're not a legilimens are you? It seems_

_that we're getting what we want right now,_

_odd. Your best friend that you spoke of, is _

_he nice? I don't believe a relationship can_

_work without the support of friends, call me_

_weird. Mine's a bit... loud. I love her to pieces_

_though, but sometimes I swear she's bipolar._

_I think you'd like her. You probably already _

_do. Maybe you like me. Maybe you hate me._

_I'm a Gryffindor, by the way. No need to _

_worry. Gold, red, and grey, all the way!_

_That was cheesy... x x x_

_P.S thanks for the rain, no sneezes yet."_

James grinned childishly, suddenly wide awake. Maybe this Lonely Hearts 'project' wasn't such a bad thing, especially not now that he didn't know a single ugly student that matched the description. Running through his mind was a list of possibilities, of all the girls that it could be. Marianne Dalby, the shy girl from his Transfiguration classes? Elizabeth Wren, a flirty girl who always cornered him after every Quidditch game? Or maybe even Katy Davis, the short brunette that tended to hang around with Lily?

Just thinking of Lily made his list rip in two, and he no longer cared for the identity of the girl. He wanted Lily, but he couldn't have her. He'd take anyone on as long as it got him over the girl of his dreams, except maybe a Slytherin. Lily was the girl he lusted over and thought about twenty four seven, the one girl who eliminated all of his hopes to finally get a different girl. How could he get someone else, when all he wanted was her? James merely guessed he'd have to try.

He tossed the note to Remus – for he no longer felt the desire to write straight back, with Lily gracing his mind – who was now wide awake and flicking through some Defence Against The Dark Arts book. James slouched over to his trunk, from which he extracted a navy blue polo shirt with a white stripe along the collar, and a pair of dark denim jeans that had seen better days. Quickly, he changed into them, ignoring the large hole that was beginning to form in the knee of his trousers. A loud hoot shot from the owl as it took off, causing Sirius to wake with a jump. "Mornin', Padfoot," James said, staring at his scruffy hair in the full length mirror and patting aimlessly at it.

"Good morning, Prongsy! Moony!" There was nothing normal about the good mood that Sirius was in. He was _never_ happy when he hadn't eaten for the past twelve hours, never mind when he was also rudely awoken. Not caring to comment on it, James grabbed a pair of trainers from under his bed and stuffed his toes into them. Besides, when Sirius was happy, it usually meant he was plotting a genius plan, a plan that James couldn't wait to hear – especially if it had been formed in Sirius' dreams.

"Breakfast, Padfoot?" James asked, knowing automatically that Remus would want no part in their pranks, being the perfect prefect that he was. Well, half perfect, for no goody two shoes would give their friends the password to the Prefects' Bathroom, let alone be friends with the Marauders. Then again, it was rumoured that Dumbledore had only given him the position for that very reason – to babysit his troublesome friends. Either way, Remus preferred to stay out of it.

Sirius jumped up, his stomach growling in reply as he tugged on a grey hoodie over his turquoise pyjama bottoms, shoving his feet into trainers, alike James had done. "To breakfast! Laters, Moony!" Sirius called, waving energetically at Remus, who looked up over the top of James' letter to wave back, Sirius not noticing the slip of parchment. After all, James could always reply later, keep her begging for more.

Sirius skipped down the stairs into the common room, as packed as usual for a bitter Saturday morning. Afternoon? Neither of the boys had a clue what the time was, but James sauntered after his crazed best friend anyway, aware that Dumbledore kept food in the Great Hall until late on Saturdays, for people such as themselves. Behind him, James was slightly hoping that Sirius would trip as a result of his over eager skipping, because that would at least give him something to laugh about for the next few hours. Instead, it was James who did the falling.

There, in the very centre of the room, was Lily. She looked breathtaking in her dark green cashmere v-neck, the colour matching her eyes and setting a magical sparkle in them as she spoke softly in her almost dream like voice. Her dark skinny jeans hugged her legs, all the way down to her white quilted pumps. It seemed that every time he saw her, he fell in love all over again, each time deeper than the last. He nodded at her, unsure how to act. Last time he had seen her, she'd been naked... and crying. Now she seemed, carefree, perhaps? Un-fazed by the closeness of James as he tripped slightly on the bottom step, almost smacking straight into her side. Instead, he merely stumbled, and used his balance from excess Quidditch training to steady himself. Or, perhaps, she simply hadn't noticed him, like usual. The Lily Evans that he loved.

"Oi, Evans! I heard about your pants!" The moment that the words left Sirius' mouth, James' mouth dropped lower than he believed it was possible. The hurt look on Lily's face stung his very heart, a heart that seemed to have stopped beating. Her dark eyebrows raised a little, deep green eyes that were slightly red and puffy widening in shock as a burst of emotion crossed her face. All James wanted to do was grab her and hug her close to his chest, away from Sirius, away from the eyes of the fellow Gryffindors, and into the safety of his own heart. Only, he had frozen to the spot since Sirius had spoken.

For a horrifying moment, James thought that Lily was going to burst into tears, a sight that he knew would kill him inside. After all, wasn't this all his fault? _He _walked in on her getting changed, _he _had made a stupidly cocky comment, _he _had supposedly already made her cry out of her beautiful eyes, and _he_ was the one who had told Sirius in the first place.

Lily's eyes pricked with the familiar sensation of tears rising up in them, but she boldly blinked them back. No one was going to see her cry, not here, not now, and most _definitely_ not in front of James Potter. Around them, the whole room had fallen silent, students no longer chatting excitedly about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit, or that the Quidditch cup started in just a few days, opening with Gryffindow versus Ravenclaw. The turning of pages as students hurriedly finished homework to have a free weekend was no longer heard, every students' eyes trained on the happenings, the four students standing as though facing each other off in the moments before a duel; Lily facing James, Sirius facing Quinn. Lily stood firm on her feet, twirling her wand in her fingers and Sirius winked at her. He turned his head slightly, and nodded at the girl in front of him who was shooting daggers out her ice cold eyes, her wand tightly clutched in her fist.

"Quinny," he said, a grin on his face as he realised that he had the attention of the whole room in the palm of his hand, the tension building up until it could have been cut with a knife or – rather more fitting – a wand. As much as he loved his shaggy haired best friend, right now, James really wanted to kill him, and he wasn't the only one.

With a resounding smack, Quinn's fist came into contact with Sirius' jaw, knocking him off balance and causing him to grip hold of James' arm. Around the room, mouths dropped open, eyes widened. Quinn Reynalds – a girl who they'd never seen as anyone threatening - had just punched Sirius Black in the face, and she'd sure made a good job of it. Lily stared at her best friend with just as much shock, her eyes growing even wider. And just like that, Quinn turned on her heels, grasping Lily by the arm in a firm, but somehow gentle, clasp. Just a few steps from the portrait hole, she whipped around, her dark hair flicking angrily out to the sides as she did so, eyes gleaming with hatred. Sirius would not at all have been surprised to see horns and a tail sprout from her lithe form. And he thought he was badass.

"Oh, and by the way," she started, smiling in mock innocence, "it's Quinn." On that note, she pushed her way through the portrait hole, arm now wrapped protectively around Lily's waist in a way that James could only dream of holding her. It was only when the portrait hole slammed shut with a thud that the talking restarted, mutterings to one another about the sight that had just been seen.

James turned to face Sirius, both angry and concerned for his best friend's well being. Though, he owed it to Quinn, that _was_ badass, and Sirius would never hear the end of being beaten up by a girl. Slaps, he'd had millions of, being the heartbreaker that he was, but not girl had _ever_ punched him. All the girls whose feeling he had ever hurt would be cheering somewhere in the background, patting Quinn on the back and thanking her for a job well done. Hand slowly rubbing his jaw, Sirius turned to James.

"...That was so hot."

* * *

**A/N: **So, what did you think? Yeah, I know, that chapter was pretty useless, or, at least, it seems, but trust me, it will be important later on. Besides, I just love Quinn in this and really wanted to write something badass on her behalf :) **R&R** if you liked it, or if you didn't, and I'll give you cookies :D


	6. Chapter Six: Don't Look Back In Anger

**DISCLAIMER: **Unfortunately, I don't own Harry Potter, but I'm going to buy Draco Malfoy when I am stupidly rich ;)

**DEDICATION: **All of you for reading this :)

"**So, Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as she's walking on by. My soul slides away, but don't look back in anger, don't look back in anger, I heard you say. At least not today." - Oasis**

**Chapter Six: Don't Look Back In Anger**

James Potter was in a foul mood.

A large sticky puddle of golden maple syrup began to form in the middle of his plate as he pushed his luke-warm waffles around, staring cluelessly down at them whilst his mind wandered in search of the perfect words to explain his feelings, the perfect apology. But apologies had never been his forte, so instead he lifted his head in an attempt to join in the conversation being held around him, if half-heartedly. "You do realise you're an idiot, right?" Remus rubbed his eyes with his fists, tiredly mumbling the words to Sirius between yawns as he dropped down into the seat beside James, Peter trailing silently behind. Needless to say, Remus' arrive was much appreciated by James, who could only take a few more words about Lily's pants before he'd have wrung Sirius' neck, right there and then. Sirius, despite being addressed just seconds before, stuffed even more food into his already crammed mouth, as though in anticipation for re-telling the story of how he had come about having a bright red jaw, what seemed like the fiftieth repeat to James, whose attention was now turned to planning the perfect murder.

_The killing curse? _James thought to himself, referring to the bright green unforgivable curse, as he stared blankly ahead. _No, much too obvious. Maybe I could push him into the black lake..._His eyes lifted up from the gooey mess that had once been his breakfast but now looked completely un-appetizing, instead looking over the top of Sirius' head and focusing on the dark red hair of Lily Evans. It wasn't the distance between them – for she was sat at the complete opposite end of the Gryffindor table to the Marauders, despite being the only other group seated at the table – that made him feel further away from her than ever before, it was the sudden realisation that she blamed him for everything that Sirius had said, a realisation that hit him square in the chest when he spotted Quinn shooting daggers across the room at him. Other than that, she seemed overly pleased with herself; they both did. Good going, Potter, he could almost hear her muttering his own thoughts.

Pushing his plate away from him in a manner of almost disgust, James blinked at Sirius, who paused mid-chew, knowing automatically that he had done something wrong. Ignoring the fake innocence that shot through Sirius' best puppy-dog eye, James dropped his fork to the table with a clatter, leaning forwards. "Is it still annoying, mate?" He asked, eyes glittering as his hand went to play with his hair, fully aware that Lily was now looking over her shoulder in his direction; that was a first. Sirius' eyes narrowed almost suspiciously as he recognised the look on his best friend's face, but regardless of that replied. "Nah," Sirius shook his head, but winced slightly as he patted his still red jaw. At his reply, James nodded slowly, surprised that a joke hadn't been made by his utterly pervy friend yet. "But one thing's certain," he continued, swelling up his chest, "that girl sure gives a hard one. Gettit, gettit, hard one?" Oh, there it was, that all sexual related joke. Sirius nudged Remus, causing him to spill milk all over his lap, and winked repeatedly as though his eye was spazzing in his skull. Laughing loudly, he turned his grey eyes to James, searching him for a response. His response? A pitcher full of pumpkin juice over his best friend's head.

Around the group, everything froze. Remus' wand was pointed at his crotch and an expression of pure shock on his face, Peter's ugly face showing emotion for once. And as for Sirius, sticky orange dripping off every inch of him, well, he looked ready to cry. James' eyes flickered over to Lily's own, smiling innocently at her as he lifted his shoulders slightly in a kind of tiny shrug. To his surprise, she shrugged back at him, her face plastered in shock, but James was certain he saw a smile glittering in her green eyes. _That _would give Sirius something to annoy him. After that, everything seemed to happen at once. Remus aimed his wand at Sirius in an attempt to rid him of the liquid, his own spillage temporarily forgotten, Peter wiped the excess up with his sleeve, and Quinn laughed loudly, her laughter sweet and musical. James swore someone even started clapping.

"What was that for?" Sirius whined, his bottom lip wobbling as he tried to restore his hair to a half decent style. James simply shrugged, looked Sirius earnestly in the eyes and said, honestly, "Pass the salt?"

After all, James Potter _was_ in a foul mood.

* * *

"My best friend is an idiot, trust me

on that. Chances are, you _do_ know

him, especially after today. As for

being a legilimens; I wish! That way,

I could know who you are. How about

a picnic sometime? I'm pretty good at

that kind of thing, y'know. Other than

that, how was your day, beautiful? (Or

at least, I'm lead to believe you are.)

I hope you reply fast, x x x

P.S. I'm serious about that picnic."

Lily's heart thudded as she read through the letter, smiling slightly. The sun beat down on her neck as she dashed under a large oak tree, dropping into its shade beside the rest of her friends. After being hugged by Amie, who had clearly witnessed the events of the early afternoon, she reached into her leather satchel and pulled out her brown quill and a piece of fairly crumpled parchment. Rolling her eyes at the squeals of her friends as she tossed them the newest letter, she looked over to the tree that usually held host to the Marauders. Indeed, there they were, James playfully ruffling Sirius' hair and laughing, Sirius sat turned away with his arms folded and a smug look on his face, clearly still ignoring James. Like _that _was gonna last. The sight set a tiny smile onto her face which she quickly wiped off, rolling her eyes as Quinn tutted beside her. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately; tutting, I mean. Lily ignored it, instead turning her attention to the blank parchment as she began to write.

"My day has been... unusual. I have

to say, the sun is giving me a very

torturous headache, and very loud

giggling boys across from me are

not helping in the slightest, but as

least I can get the library to myself.

How about you, enjoying the sun?

You are quite the charmer, aren't

you? But are you good enough for

me? Haha ;) x x x x

P.S Tomorrow night, 8pm, by the

black lake, meet me then?"

Tying the note onto the leg of the dark owl that she had barely noticed was still at her side, Lily gave its feathers a gentle stroke before closing her eyes and leaning back against the tree trunk. The Marauders' laughter mixed with the quiet turning of pages as Amie settled down with yet another of her cheesy romance novels, and the scratching of quills on paper as Katy copied Amie's notes for their most recent Transfiguration assignment. A gentle wind lifted a few red curls off Lily's face, playing with them almost as though they were dancing, and then strewing them about in a random yet almost beautiful pattern. But none of it matter as Lily took in a deep breath. Her mind cleared, and all that she could see was the fact that someone out there could very well be her new love interest, for they seemed interesting enough. In fact, she seemed to be falling deeper and deeper with each word, being pulled closer and closer to the edge of the uncharted waters of love.

The laughter died away suddenly – perhaps someone had finally silenced Potter, good on them – and with it vanished the dull throbbing in her skull. Lily allowed a smile to creep onto her lips, and even the loud thump of Quinn slamming her book shut didn't cause her to stir, let alone open her eyes. That's what the boiling sun does to you, it's a dreamy concoction that acts as a lullaby to pull you into sleep, but Lily wasn't complaining. Instead, she opened her lips slightly, the way that she only does when she is fully relaxed. It no longer mattered that the whole school was muttering about her behind their hands, discussing her all important choice of _pants._ It no longer mattered that James Potter had actually done something nice for her, for once, but that it all could simply be part of some major plot. Heavens behold that James Potter was _actually _feeling guilty, the thought was almost laughable. In that moment, Lily Evans was happy, and she wasn't about to forget that for a long time... Even if there was something nibbling at her finger.

Lily opened her eyes slowly, looking suspiciously down at the finger-thief in front of her, one eyebrow raised. The owl stared back, large amber eyes glowing and its small head cocked to one side. Quickly, Lily snatched it up, almost tearing off the letter, before feeding the bird a bite of the crusts that had once been a part of Quinn's sandwich, for she never ate the crusts.

"My day has also been unusual. As for

the sun, I think my friend is enjoying it

more, as he has just wandered off into

a sunnier spot. Then again, I only have

his word for it, for her appears to have

vanished. Probably tried to disapparate

or something... idiot. I thank you for that

compliment. I can assure you, you'll be

spellbound when you try my amazing

sandwiches. x x x x

P.S make it 10pm and we'll have

ourselves a deal."

Grinning, Lily turned to show Quinn the letter, but her smile turned abruptly into a frown. Quinn was... gone. She too, appeared to have vanished from their group of friends. "Where's Quinn?" Lily asked, confused, her brow furrowing as she surveyed the spot where her best friend had been sat just moments before. Had Lily really been that zoned out? "I think she wanted more sun," Katy replied, eyes still glued to her notes, also frowning. Now, that was just spooky.

* * *

**A/N: **Woah, this chapter is a pile of poo. And it took me about seven tries to even get started today :/ Not a good day for writing. Sorry about the crappy writing style in this, but I guess I rushed it because I want to get onto the actual meeting now, and I'm sure so do y'all :) Eeep, next chapter! I promise that one will be super long and make up for this one :)

~ evermorekisses


	7. Chapter Seven: Yellow

**DISCLAIMER: **Although I do not own Harry Potter, I am sad enough to claim that James Potter will always have a place in my heart, as will Sirius who clearly can't keep it in his pants and is as charming as a snake charmer, and Remus, whose furry little problem will never be a problem to me :') Oh, The Marauders are such babes.

**DEDICATION:** I would like to dedicate this chapter to my amazing parents and sister, all of which won't stop asking me about the large pile of paper that makes up this story and is held together by two green treasury tags, and all of which will probably never even read this, let alone take note of the dedication. It's for that reason that I am also going to dedicate this chapter to my friends, who I know will always be there for me now, through thick and thin. So, this goes out to you all, to my mother, my father, my gorgeous sister, and to all my friends, Jen, Angharad, Freya, Sally. Also, to Katie, who never fails to report back to me with mistakes I have made, things she likes, or sometimes things that she doesn't. And to you, for sticking with me this far. You, too, are all babes.

**A/N:** Wow. Words cannot describe how much I love this chapter. I sat down (well, laid, as it is midnight as I type this) and started writing on my laptop rather than paper, for I knew this one would need a lot of description. Let's just say, I have a fetish for long descriptive sections of writing, and I had to cut this down so as not to allow it to drag on for too long. In this chapter, I actually feel like I have done a better job than in any of the others, and I think that it makes up for the crap that was the last one I posted, but feel free to tell me what you thought, 'cause I'd love that :) (Actually, I'm writing the A/N when I am only finishing the flashback of earlier events, so it could get worse from here on, hahaa)

"**Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do, yeah they were all yellow. I came along, I wrote a song for you, and all the things you do, and it was called yellow. So then I took my turn, oh what a thing to have done, and it was all yellow. You're skin, oh yeah you're skin and bones, turned into something beautiful, do you know, you know I love you so. You know I love you so." - Coldplay**

**Chapter Seven: Yellow**

The girl was more than beautiful, she was the definition of beautiful, closer to the true meaning of the word than anyone else had ever before been, and most probably ever would be. Tumbling down past her shoulders in a loose plait of silky waves, her red hair seemed to glow in a way that uttered the word 'magical'. The light reflected off it perfectly, giving it a gorgeous auburn sheen that almost begged to be touched, begged for fingers to be run through it, and it skimmed the top of her chest at the perfect length. Almond shaped emerald eyes sparkled brighter than a sky full of tiny, twinkling stars, greener than the most nourished grass in the whole world, and glittering like the precious jewel that they had taken their colour from. Her long brown eyelashes surrounded her eyes, fluttering slightly, with a thin line of brown Kohl enhancing their beauty and dragging even more attention to them. Smiling slightly, her pink lips rose up her flawless skin, the blush forming in her cheeks the exact right colour without even the help of a blusher. Her lips shone in the light, a thin layer of sweet tasting lip gloss covering them and making them ever more kissable.

A dark green silk dress that had never before been worn fell around her figure perfectly, hugging the exact right places, the deep round neck showing just a little of her pale chest, while keeping the outfit reserved and breathtaking. Her shoulders were exposed to the cool temperature, with just two dainty straps holding the dress up and in place. A plain design, it tucked in around her tiny waist and dropped downwards in a waterfall of skirt; soft silk skimming all the way down to her knees, where it stopped, making her legs seem longer and smoother. The plain make of it seemed all but plain on her, and a single wave pulled free from the plait to hang around her heart-shaped face. Pinned onto the left side of her head, clipped into her smooth hair just above her plait, was a single lily, white and gleaming, pure and perfect against the sea of red. Feet secured into silver gladiator sandals, she looked the exact replica of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, and with any chance, love would happen for herself.

Lily Evans sighed, looking at the image in front of her, in awe at the beauty of such a person, amazed that anyone could be that beautiful, even with all the resources and help in the world. Perfection came at too high a cost, and the girl was almost like a deity from a drunken dream, cast into the memory of those around her forever. She stepped away from the mirror, turning instead to the girls stood behind her, not a patch on her own beauty as they stared, smiling happily down at her. Hair dishevelled, clothes crumpled, and some even with blotches of ink on their faces, they were far from perfect. Next to the beauty that was Lily Evans, they seemed to be nothing more than peasants bowing down to their queen, and all it had taken was a little hair tweaking, a little make-up, and a killer dress. Smiling cautiously, she twirled slowly on the spot, already self concious of all eyes being set on her, even if they were only those of her greatest and closest friends, Quinn Reynalds, Amie May and Katy Davis. Sighs of delight slipped from two of the three mouths, a laugh coming from the other. It wasn't a disapproving laugh, or one of, it was simply what Quinn did. She laughed when others were in awe, laughed out of delight and pride, and she would have pretty much jumped on her best friend if she hadn't just spent the last two hours pampering over her and getting her to the gorgeous state that she was now in, not that it had taken much. After all, Lily was always beautiful, tonight she was just ravishing.

Quinn reached her hand towards Lily, aiming to ruffle her hair, but then clearly thought much better of it, instead reaching for her small hands. She took Lily's hand in hers, intertwining her own fingers with the smaller ones, and giving her hand a quick squeeze, grinning at her. She herself wore a plain white tank top and cropped skinny jeans, a simple outfit that fit Quinn to a T, for she never cared about dressing up. She threw on what she wanted to wear, and what she could find, what she could be bothered to put together. As usual, it consisted of a t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Sometimes, if the weather was cool, she would toss on a jumper to go with it, but only if it was mid-winter, for she seemed to have an almost inhuman immunity to the cold, something that frequently worried Lily. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, though half of it had now fallen out to drop past her shoulders messily, almost lazily, from all the work that had been focused on Lily since they had eaten that night in the Great Hall. Truth be told, all the girls were so tired that they could have fallen asleep straight away. But not Lily.

Lily was practically skipping with excitement, everything about her glowing in anticipation. She squeezed back, her cheeks flushing once more, and she received a wink in return. "Go get 'um, Lils," Quinn whispered to her, loud enough for the others to hear, before she dropped her hand. Rolling her shoulders a little, and giggling, Lily hugged each of the remaining girls one at a time, careful not to crease her dress, and muttering words of thanks to them, to which they shrugged and claimed it was 'nothing'. Truth be told, Lily thought that it was more than 'nothing', and perhaps even completely unnecessary, but she couldn't say for a second – in all honesty – that she didn't look more beautiful and perfect than she ever had before, so perhaps all of the work had been worth it, even if she was more of a jeans and converse kind of girl, it didn't hurt to make an effort every once in a while, right? Turning to the door of the dormitory, the girls followed her, the excitement practically bouncing off them all and acting as caffeine in keeping them awake, without which they would all collapse any second, and all Lily had was a date with a secret admirer, that could turn out to be the most gruesome and horrifying boy in the whole of Hogwarts.

Even passing through the common room, all eyes turned to Lily as she practically floated through the room, breaths being drawn all around from both boys and girls, clearly astounded by both her beauty and grace. Smiling self-consciously into the eyes of those which her own met, she dropped her eyes down to her feet, until she received a poke in the back. Oh, right, that would be referring to rule number seventeen; always look up and have a perfect posture, back straight, head raised. Instead, Lily simply rolled her eyes mockingly, looking over to the couches where the Marauders sat, minus one. Remus had dropped his quill onto the floor, mouth wide open in what was either shock or horror, maybe even a mix of both. Smiling sweetly at him, he appeared to force a smile back, before turning to Sirius who also seemed shocked, uttering multiple swearwords under his breath, from what Lily could read on his lips. His eyes were flickering between her and a large stretch of parchment with what looked as though it was a map drawn upon it. Why they both looked scared, yet malicious and peculiarly joyful, fooled her, along with the big fat question of where Potter was. Wasn't he usually attached at the hip to Sirius? Lily mentally shook her head, wiping James Potter from her mind. Why did she care where he was? It was probably better that he wasn't there anyway, for he would say something stupid or mock her endlessly for being so stunning. Because _that _made sense.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Amie asked as they reached the portrait hole, Lily expecting James to barge in any second and run straight into her, covered head to toe in mud from the Quidditch training that he was probably attending, and ruin her whole plan, typical Potter. That sounded _just_ like him. Of course, Amie was referring to the fact that waiting out there for her, beside the black lake, could be anybody, and that didn't always mean someone safe. Even sneaking out of the Hogwarts castle after hours would prove difficult, the last thing Lily wanted was to end up out late at night with some creepy psychopath, but she had her wand after all, hidden in the one pocket that the dress contained. She nodded, a silent thanks being displayed in her bright eyes as she shot one more smile at Quinn, who gently punched her on the shoulder, and turned on her sparkling heels, pushing her way out of the portrait hole. Little did she know that she would be the talk of the Gryffindors for yet another night, simply by walking through looking like Merlin's gift. At that exact moment, quietly heading down the stairs towards the entrance hall, she felt like it too, the happiness almost bubbling up and out of her as she skipped down the last few steps as silently as possible.

* * *

The stars twinkled above in the dark, inky blue of the cloudless night sky. A large, almost full, moon shone a bright silver down over the black lake, reflected in its dark waters, casting away any afore threatening features that the water held, and from the creatures that were most probably lurking in its depths, whether deep below or just near the surface. Though the night was cool, it still felt slightly muggy without the presence of the wind, almost the perfect temperature for a perfect night, or what could only be hoped to be perfect. The simple smell of autumn hung in the air; a mix of wild plants, the scent of the lake, and of freshly cut grass. It was enough to leave the nose begging for more of such a divine mixture.

James Potter lay on his back, settled down on a large red and gold blanket that held all of the supplies that he had collected earlier that very same day. In his hands was a small strip of parchment containing just three words in a simple sentence. The handwriting was curvy and beautiful in itself – a sign that the writer herself must be jaw-droppingly gorgeous – a smile on his lips as he re-read the words for what could be no less than the thirtieth time. In fact, although he would never admit it, he hadn't gone anywhere without the scrap of paper on his person, even sleeping with it under his pillow, since he had received it a day earlier, the last he had heard from his admirer, the identity of which he still hadn't a clue. His thumb rubbed the words gently as his lips mouthed them silently.

"It's a date."

Sitting up slowly, James rubbed the stubborn creases from his black jacket and dark blue shirt, the colour of which almost matched that of the sky above him, and allowed his hands to run down the legs of his black linen trousers which, also, had managed to get creased from all of the work that he had done. Maybe he should have listened to Sirius and simply worn jeans, but something had been telling him to make the most effort that he could, and Remus had been all for the linen trousers that James had extracted from the bottom of his trunk, not certain that he had ever before worn. In fact, it was a miracle that they had even fit. Closing his eyes, James thought back to the time, almost an hour before, when he had been getting dressed and ready for leaving.

_"Lie _down_ you bastard." James muttered under his breath, staring in the mirror at his misbehaving locks of dark brown hair, the strands of which seemed adamant to stick up in every way and direction possible. If there was ever a head of hair that had the ability to defy gravity, it was that of Mr Potter, as he dripped a light __splattering of water onto the roots of it in an attempt to flatten it so that it appeared even at all decent. Sure, everyone had bad hair days, but James seemed to be living in a bad hair _lifetime._ "Just set it all on fire," Sirius called over from the bed that he was lying on his back on, head dangling upside down off the edge as he stared contently at James, grinning and eager to mock his best friend's every movements, almost trying to make him see sense. But it was alright for some, who didn't care where their next girl was going to come from, or who she was going to be, as long as she was decent looking. James, on the other hand, cared a great deal, and had spent every single second of the six years that he had been at Hogwarts craving the same girl, and here was his chance to finally move on from the girl that he could never have. _

_ "Ha-freaking-ha." James said, turning to stare at Sirius, who had finally come around and started talking to him again after the incident with a large amount of pumpkin juice being poured over his head – James was starting to think that it was only so that he could have the chance to tease him in his preparations for the 'big night', in other words, the night that he had finally gotten around to meeting the girl that he had been writing to over the past few days. James was never nervous, not even when he had to go head to head with the Slytherin team in last year's Quidditch Cup final, to which they had to win by an exact amount of points and in an exact way. But tonight, for the first time in what felt like his life, James was pretty much _petrified. _Glancing back at his reflection, he pulled on the trousers that Remus had just laid out for him on his bed, after casting a quick ironing spell that neither James nor Sirius knew why in Merlin's name he had every bothered learning. Clearly, it was for moments such as these. "At least Moony is being of some _help_," James threw at Sirius, jokingly, sticking his tongue out as he pushed his arms into the sleeves of his best shirt. _

_ "Yes, and we all know that Moony has a love for _guys,_" Sirius concluded, winking at Remus as he did so, knowing very well that his friend wasn't at all in the slightest bit gay. In response, Remus threw the jacket in his hands at Sirius' head, laughing, a grin on his haggard face. "No, Padfoot, I just don't shag every single walking, talking, breathing female." He said, rolling his eyes at his long-haired friend, whose hair was currently almost touching the stone floor as Sirius leant back further on the bed to get a better look at Remus. James rushed across the room towards his two friends, grabbing the jacket from its position half covering Sirius' face – the last thing he wanted was the saliva of his very _un-_helpful friend on his clothes, especially at such an important time. On second thoughts, James couldn't think of a time when he would _ever _want Sirius' saliva on him. "Oi," he called to the two boys, "play nice or I may have to come over there and join in, and I don't think my _date" -_ he exaggerated the word 'date' - "would really appreciate that, do you?" He laughed again, buttoning up his shirt quickly before throwing on the jacket, having checked it thoroughly for signs of any kind of liquid and the results coming back as negative. Having given up on his hair, he tossed his friends a large folded up piece of parchment. "Keep an eye out, and if there is anyone hideous heading my way, make an excuse to pull me back to our dorm. Say... say Sirius got his little friend stuck in his zipper or something." At this, Sirius' jaw dropped with an almost audible clunk, a grin spreading onto Remus' face. Sirius narrowed his eyes at James, hands instinctively moving to protect his crotch. "I'll have you know, I always take very good care of my scrotal zone," Sirius shot back at James, glaring at Remus instead, who was beginning to laugh. At that comment, James was soon cracking up, his eyes watering with laughter, and even Sirius couldn't take himself seriously for _that _long. Waving at the two and making a sharp exit before he got into a play-fight that he just _couldn't _pull himself away from, James waved goodbye and dashed out of the Gryffindor common room, closing the portrait hole quietly. His watch told him it was quarter to nine, and he blew out a sigh of relief; plenty of time._

A smile set onto James' slightly nibbled lips, a result of something that he only ever did when he was worried about something, or concentrating way too much, past the point of healthy. Then again, if you looked at it from that perspective, his infatuation with someone whom he had no idea the identity of was pretty unhealthy too, as far as unhealthy goes. He turned, hazel eyes scanning the layout of food and drinks that surrounded him. A large wicker basket was off to his left, goblets, plates and cutlery held in it, napkins and all other necessities also crammed in. Bottles of warm, delicious butterbeer sat beside one large bottle of Firewhiskey that had taken all of James' wit to get a-hold of from Sirius' own alcohol stash. Quite how Sirius himself had persuaded Madame Rosmerta to allow him to buy it was beyond James' knowledge. Next to the alcoholic drinks were a few pitchers, one of pumpkin juice and the other full of milk. Plates upon plates of sandwiches, all of which James had made himself, having taken the ingredients from his friends down in the castle kitchens, were strewn around the blanket along with bowls holding multiple puddings; jellies, cakes, chocolate pots, crème-caramels, sticky toffee pudding, ice cream of all flavours, were just a small portion of the collection. But no picnic would be without the snacks and treats of sweets, a small pile of which lay just to James' right; chocolate frogs, Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans, fizzing whizbees, large bars of Honeydukes best chocolate and everything else that your heart could even dream of desiring. He had even taken the liberty of getting vanilla scented tea lights and dotting them around the area that he had occupied, although his first thought had been to path out a trail from the door of the castle to where he was sat, but that would have attracted too much unwanted attention. To be one hundred percent honest, James was happy with his display of affection, and his large amount of food lay out in a way that practically begged to be eaten. He just hoped that it was enough to win over a girl's heart. Feeling too hot with nerves, he shrugged off his jacket, folding it neatly down beside him. It was at that moment that he heard the approach, leaves crunching beneath feet.

The night was cooler than Lily had expected, and as she headed towards the glowing lights she felt tiny goosebumps appear on her revealed arms and legs, much to her displeasure. Her heart swooped and dived as she noticed the sight before her widened eyes, eyes that had only just got used to the light – or lack of – in the school grounds. Just the fact that the boy had remembered her love for picnics had set her alight with hope and passion, and now the way that he had lit over twenty candles, in a romantic gesture, left her longing for a lot more of where that had come from. A true romance, a true charmer, a true..._love_? Lily attempted to set on her most dazzling smile, but her nerves got the better of her and it ended up as a shy, nervous smile. That's when she saw him, or, at least, his outline, for his face was in the shadow of the moon rather than the light, and she couldn't perfectly make out his face, but she sure knew that if it was anything as good as his _body, _then she was in for a real treat.

Smiling up at the girl mere meters away from him, James' breath was knocked out of his lungs. Indeed, she was beautiful, dark hair in a casual plait that fell over her shoulder and onto her chest, her body encased in a dress of green silk that shimmered in the moonlight, casting the impression that he was going to be spending the evening with a nymph, but a beautiful one at that. Her skin was creamy, almost the colour of milk, seemingly glowing in the dim light, and for a moment, James was utterly speechless. If only he could see more of her face that was hidden temporarily in darkness. He noticed a cautious smile on her lips, a smile which could only mean that she was just as nervous as he was, though she had no need when she was more beautiful than even he could have imagined in his wildest dreams. As she dropped down onto the blanket beside him, the skirt of her glorious dress rising slightly as she did so, James allowed one word to slip from his lips.

"Wow." Lily heard the boy utter under his breath, clearly an involuntary action, but still, she blushed, glad that she was in the shadow. Only problem; there no longer was a shadow. Turning to her date, Lily's mouth dropped open with what she could only describe as a loud thunk. There, sat in front of her, smile also dropping to a face of sheer shock, was James Potter. And for once, he wasn't saying anything stupid, or grinning his evil 'I know something that you don't' grin. Her heart sunk in her chest, and in that moment, she felt nothing but anger, hatred, _detesting_ for the boy in front of her, more so than she ever had before, and she had hated him a stupidly large amount since he had seen her pretty much naked. Well, at least she now knew where the fourth Marauder was; he was her secret admirer. Wasn't that all happy families?

"Potter?" "Evans?" They both shouted in unison, eyes blazing and glaring at one another over what truly did seem like a spectacular meal, and by far the best picnic that both James and Lily had ever attended. James' heart beat twice the speed it already had been, far too fast to be either natural _or _safe, for the girl who had taken an interest in him was the one girl he had been in love with since he first set sights on her, the one girl who had hated him for too long to even recall, a girl who was now scrambling to stand up, frowning with a look of pure hurt in her eyes that she was trying so hard to hide from James' sight. But he could see right through her, he'd spent too many years staring at her to not be able to. Lily's cheeks burnt red in a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and disappointment. Only hours before, she had been hoping for the night of her life with the boy of her dreams. What had she ended up with? Ten minutes of disaster with her worst enemy, what a replacement.

For a few moments, she simply stood over him, mouth opening and shutting repeatedly as though she was looking for the right words to show her feelings, to show the fact that she knew that this must have been some evil plot of his and his equally evil friends to get into her head, but clearly couldn't find any as she glared deep into James' eyes, who stared right back, without even a hint of hatred. Lily almost wanted to scream at him to glare back, to shout abuse at her and mock her, the way that she was used to, the James that she knew, but instead, she was met with a kind of begging, a sorrow in his eyes that showed she really was killing him by walking away. She'd barely even noticed his hand wrapped around her wrist as he silently asked her to stay.

And Lily understood. She understood exactly what that look meant as she cut off her glare to widen her dark green eyes right back at him, she understood the way his grip on her wrist was both gentle, caring, but tight, showing his need for her to stay with him, just for a few seconds longer until he really did loose the battle for good. Staring calmly back into the hazel eyes behind James' round glasses, Lily sighed softly. "Evans. L-Lily. Please stay? Just for tonight?" James almost stammered, swallowing hard as he awaited her to turn on her cute heels and storm back into the castle, gorgeous figure slowly getting further and further from his reach. This was his one chance, this was _his_ moment, his chance to shine. He _had_ to prove that he was more than she expected him to be, because he would never get this moment again. If only Lily could read his mind, as she had accused him of being able to read hers. How very wrong she was; how very wrong they _both _were. James' heart almost exploded out of his chest as she nodded, her plait bobbing up and down a little, and then she was back on the blanket, seated just opposite from him. And she was smiling.

* * *

**A/N: **DUN DUN DUN! What happens next? You'll have to wait and see ;) But could Sirius get much more funny? I love how I was watching Run Fatboy Run (if you haven't already seen it, rent it pronto, it's brilliant) and they mentioned something about a scrotal zone, and my first immediate thought was SIRIUS BLACK, so I took a note of it, intending to use it. That was about a week ago, hahaa. So, what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Tell me what you thought, I'd love to hear :D Also, if you have any ideas for plot twists, feel free to tell me in a review, 'cause that would be TOTALLY AWESOME (A Very Potter Musical love). This chapter made me literally say 'awww' about twenty times, and I hope it had the same effect on all of you :) Love, as always ~ evermorekisses.


	8. Chapter Eight: Love Song Requiem

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing but the plot :(

**DEDICATION:** You. :)

**A/N: **Sorry! This chapter is just a load of drabble :/ It starts off okay, but then goes rapidly down hill, I might edit it to make it better at some point, because the ending is really... emotionless. Anyway, I hope you like it :) Also, I made a few banners for the story, eep :') I get bored easily, so one is in half black and white, the other colour. I'm just gonna say that I don't really see the characters as the celebs used, but they were the best I could get :D I'll only post y'all the link somehow :/

"**I die each time you look away, my heart, my life, will never be the same. This love will take my everything, one breath, one touch, will be the end of me. You could be the final straw that brings me back to earth." - Trading Yesterday**

**Chapter Eight: Love Song Requiem**

Lily Evans _never _missed class. Not once. Not even one single teeny weeny second of any class. Yet there she was – hair looking as though it had never once met a brush, eyes wide in a mixture of terror and early morning surprise – running down the corridor at full pelt, short pleated skirt swaying as she did so, the sound of her heavy footfalls echoing off the walls around her. Under her breaths that came out heavy and fast, she cussed her friends repeatedly, words that she never thought she would even think, let alone say, slipping out of her lips in a hushed mumble. Red hair stuck up at odd angles, curls flicking this way and that in a complete catastrophe of the essences of beauty, but what more could you expect when you went to bed with an inordinate amount of hairspray stuck into your hair, had had little more than two hours sleep, and were having the worst, most unlucky day of your entire lifetime? Not much, was the answer to that question. Even her face was far from perfect, streaks of smudged mascara pooling under her eyes, making the bags that hung there even more obvious. If people hadn't have known any better, they would have thought that Lily had just been transferred to St. Mungo's.

Satchel swinging across her shoulder as she ran, books crushed tightly to her chest, Lily's feet sounded like rhythmical drum beats as they pounded through the castle, her heart thumping in time to the fast footsteps. With a sudden halt, she stopped in front of a large, heavy, oak door, the handle itself twice the size of each of her hands, looming above her in an almost threatening manner that made her feel even more nervous, even more small, and even more insignificant than she was already feeling. Lily took a moment to re-arrange her uniform, tugging her skirt down so that it was at least knee-length rather than the mid-thigh length that it had risen to in all the hurry of tossing on clothes within five minutes, grabbing what ever she could find. As she pulled on the bottom of the white shirt that seemed more than a little too tight around the chest area, it occurred to her that not everything that she was wearing was not one hundred percent definitely her own, and sighed at Quinn's lack of tidiness, rolling her dark green eyes, the only part of her that didn't seem to have been effected by the stupid time in the night – or rather more fitting, morning – that she had returned to her dorm, giggling and falling straight onto her bed, not bothering to change. Needless to say, she'd fallen asleep in a matter of seconds, all of the alcohol that she had drunk helping her into a dreamy state. Grabbing a quick look at the dainty silver watch on her wrist, the decorative hands ticking silently around the mother of pearl face, she frowned, her thin eyebrows knitting themselves together in a look of worry and disbelief. Half an hour late; and no excuse. Well, this should be a fun lesson.

"Miss Evans, are you going to stand outside of my classroom for yet another half hour, or are you actually going to join us now?" Lily jumped, shaking her head a few times before pushing open the door, quite unsure as to how her teacher had known she was only stood outside the door, when the door was clearly of a fair thickness and weight, with no windows or anyway at all to see through it, not even a keyhole. Slowly, as though expecting a curse to be shot at her the moment that she got into sight, she looked around the edge of the door, her wide eyes giving her a look of innocence that she usually lived up to, but it wasn't a curse that was shot in her direction, and Lily couldn't decide which would have been worse. For there, stood at the very front of the classroom and at least ten metres away from her, was Professor McGonagall, her eyes narrowed as she shot a glare at the seventeen year old redhead who was shimming her way around the door, muttering apologies, thankful that she was as thin as she was. "See me at the start of lunch," McGonagall said, sharply, turning back to the blackboard behind her. But that wasn't all that greeted her; around the room eyes widened as they took in her messy appearance, a few girls gasping in disbelief and shock, hardly able to believe that just last night she had been the most beautiful of them all, and yet today she looked so... homeless. Sure, there, peeking through the image of destruction, was her soft skin, her bright eyes, her gorgeous figure, yet all of these were masked by something altogether new, smudges of left over make-up, uncontrollable fringes that puffed out as though electrified, clothes that were either too tight or too large, worn scruffily and without care. In fact, Lily cared _very _much, cared about the odd glances she was getting as she searched the room for one face in particular, dropping into the chair beside Quinn that she had saved for her, ignoring the grin on her soon-to-be-sorry face which only received a glare in reply. Eyes still swimming over the room, a look of almost hurt shot through them when their eyes never met, when she never located the face in the mixture of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Where the hell _was _he? And why the hell did she care so much?

_"I'm cold," She muttered, her teeth chattering against the chill of the night air, her skin marked with tiny little goosebumps, from her shoulders down to her legs. She wished she'd worn anything other than the silky, green dress she was, wished she'd been wise enough to bring with her a cardigan, or even a coat. After all, what kind of a person goes out at ten o'clock in the middle of autumn wearing nothing but a knee-length dress and gladiator sandals? By the shivering form of Lily Evans, not a very clever one. She frowned, wrapping her thin arm around her waist in an attempt to stop her remaining bodily heat from escaping, wishing to keep it trapped there forever. Her eyes flickered shut as she imagined the warmth of the Gryffindor common-room that was so close, that she had left to spent a night with what had turned out to be her worst enemy. Immediately, she wished she was back in front of the sizzling fire, watching the flames glimmer from red, to orange, to yellow, to gold, and then back to red to repeat the cycle all over again. Feeling a sudden warmth around her shoulders, her eyes opened again, looking down at the soft material rested on her shoulders. A jacket was draped across her shoulders, making her look even smaller than she already was as it wrapped around her, almost hiding her in the dark material. Eyes looking into those of the boy in front of her, hands dropping quickly from her shoulders, she smiled carefully. "Thanks," she muttered, to which he nodded and yet again averted his gaze from her eyes, as though he was too afraid to meet them. Instead, they travelled over her body, over the way she seemed so fragile when she was wearing his suit jacket in a way that made him want to hug her badly, even if just to warm her up. The fact that it was his jacket draped around her shoulders made him feel like he had finally achieved his goal at making her his. If only._

_ "You're beautiful." Lily blinked a few times, taken aback by the comment that had hit her so suddenly, so without warning. Staring into the eyes before her own, a small smile slowly slipped onto her lips, despite her own willing for it to never appear, her eyes casting down to her lap as a tiny pink blush flushed through her cheeks due to the blood rising there, out of embarrassment or delight, which, she wasn't quite certain. "I mean, y'know, I've always know that but, well, y'know, tonight you're just... wow." Lily allowed a single laugh of delight to bubble up from her lungs as James Potter averted his eyes from her – a task much harder than he had ever thought possible – and ran his hand through his messy hair, nervously. James Potter, nervous? The thought itself was almost enough to send crazy giggles from her mouth had the very truth of it not been staring her right in the face, eyes twinkling and what she could hardly believe was a blush creeping into his handsome cheeks. Wait... had she actually just thought of Potter as handsome? At his nerves, Lily grinned at him, her eyes glittering with happiness, kindness, and for once, she believed every word that he had uttered, believed _him._ In fact, when she really thought about it, he didn't look too bad himself. His face freshly shaven, she could smell the sweet aftershave on him, entrancing her, almost trying to pull her in closer. He looked good in a suit, that was for sure, and as much as it pained her to admit it – James Potter was pretty darn fine, even if his hair _would not _stay flat! But in that moment, no amount of hair-sticking-up really mattered for just minutes before, she had very much found him attractive – perfect even. "You know, you don't scrub up that bad yourself, either," Lily giggled, allowing a strand of red hair to drop over her eyes, a smile curling on her lips. Surprisingly, she even found herself winking at him, something that seemed only he and his idiot of a friend Sirius Black did, and flushed bright pink when she realised what she had just done, the way she seemed to be growing just like James the longer she was alone with him, the more she was relaxing, the easier it was for her to be herself. Shame he was such an arse hole. _

_ James stared at her, eyes scanning every inch of her face, a hatred for the slip of hair that was covering even an inch of her beauty, willing it to fall back into place. All he wanted was to sit with her there for the rest of his lifetime, all he wanted was for time to stand still and nothing else to matter but the here and now, __the wrong and right. And this felt so right, more so than anything that he had ever felt before, even if he knew that it felt nothing more than wrong to the girl in front of him, the girl whose cheeks were getting pinker and pinker by each word spoken, as though she had already drunk too much butterbeer, despite all of the bottles still sealed shut. She was so beautiful, so perfect, so untouchable, and as he stared into her own eyes, James felt his hand magically being drawn to her cheek, much alike the feeling of how he couldn't pull his gaze away from her for longer than a second, a second that would be exceedingly painful and boring. It was almost as though he could lose himself in her, as though he could spend hours simply looking at her, mapping out every curve, every hair, every freckle in his mind, keeping it there forever, wishing to never forget a second of tonight. His warm hand gently on her cheek, he lifted the strand of hair off her face, instead pushing it back behind her ear, where his hand came to rest on her neck. A kind of energy passed through the two of them, both gazing into each other's eyes and only just noticing how close they were, how near their faces were and how the gap between them could be closed in just a single second, a second which would follow on with their lips meeting. Lily's mouth opened by the tiniest amount, her juicy lips tempting James more than anything that he had ever seen – and he had seen a lot of things that tempted him, namely girls. Then, he found himself slowly closing the gap of cool night air between them, his eyes sparkling in apprehension. His lips were no more than five inches from her face, four, three, two, he smiled, adamant that she wasn't about to pull away._

_ Butterbeer?" James asked her suddenly, in a voice no more than a whisper, his breath tickling against the lips that were just centimetres away from her own. His hand fell from the back of her neck, instead reaching for the closest bottle of the warm, sticky liquid alcohol, dropping it into her lap in response to her tiny nod. Sitting back in his original position but this time by her side, a teasing grin sparkled on his lips, for he had almost kissed Lily, and she hadn't even tried to pull back. James Potter, kissing _Lily Evans! _Words could not describe how long he had waited for that moment, yet he had thrown it away in a moment that reminded her of exactly what he was – the Marauder tease. He chinked his own bottle against hers, swigging from it, grinning and staring at her from above the rim of the bottle, doing everything in his power not to laugh at the confused look on her face, even when she slapped him on the shoulder, laughing away what he knew would be her own messed up emotions, trying to hide that she had fooled herself just as much as he had fooled her. For, just for a few seconds, Lily Evans had been certain she was going to kiss him back. _

"What. A. Douchebag."

Lily blinked repeatedly, turning her head to the side, a frown on her face. "Hm?" She asked inquisitively, her eyes slightly narrowed from a mixture of tiredness and the reverie that she had just pulled herself out of, the memories of her previous night slowly slipping from her mind as she caught sight of Quinn's own frown, almost certain that the girl had just read her thoughts, thinking the exact same thing that Lily had been just moments before, but Quinn wasn't staring back at her. Quinn Reynalds was staring very patently across the room and right into the eyes of Sirius Black, who winked at her to much rolling of Quinn's bright blue eyes. She shook her head, tutting under her breath, and then did something that left the full table of Marauders, of course, minus the dark haired head of James Potter, gasp in surprise before laughing at Sirius, who stared back at Quinn, mouth open. Raising her middle finger, Quinn pressed her lips to it, lowering it slightly before blowing the kiss she had just lain on it in the direction of Sirius. Clearly, Sirius didn't know what to think of this action, both being sworn at and having a kiss blown at him. So, instead, he stuck to staring at her dumbfoundedly as Quinn turned to face Lily, the back of her head facing towards Sirius, the only view that he would be getting from her for the rest of the lesson.

"What was that all about?" Lily asked, laughing at the sight over Quinn's shoulder of Sirius still gaping at her, clearly unable to shut his fly-trap of a mouth. As a reply, all she received was a shrug, a sign that she knew meant that they would discuss it no further, at least, not in a crowded classroom. Still, Lily couldn't help noticing her best friend stuff a crumpled up piece of parchment into her bag, before pointing her wand back at the bird in front of the two of them. It seemed there was yet another mystery to add to the stupidly large pile, after all, with James Potter's massive head sat at the very top of it, it was hardly going to be pocket-sized. Ignoring the sharp tones of McGonagall telling her the exact time of her detention for the following lunch, Lily leant back in her chair, pretending to listen. Truthfully? Her head was _completely _involved with Potter.

* * *

James Potter hadn't turned up to Charms, Potions, or even Defence Against The Dark Arts, his supposed favourite subject, and Lily was beginning to worry. What if he was all alone in his dormitory, seriously ill, and no one even knew? What if he had returned to the picnic site after they had left together to tidy up, but been kidnapped and was now being tortured by a gang of Death Eaters? What if he was _dead? _Lily shook her head, shaking the stupidly unbelievable thoughts from her head as she took a mouthful of her soup, the cold metal of her spoon offering her some comfort in the crowded Great Hall, buzzing through her ears was the noise of the pupils munching on their lunch, giggling about rumours or chatting about anything completely, well... normal. She was so worried, she was even _chewing _worriedly, squeezing her jaw closed tightly around the bites of bread and then chomping down hard on them, her teeth piercing easily through the soft bread that she had been mopping up her soup with. Taking too big of a bite, she choked a little, grabbing her goblet of pumpkin juice and swallowing a large amount to wash down her food, as gruesome as it was. Instead, she dropped the bread, looking up at Amie in front of her who seemed to have fallen into fits of annoying, high pitched girly giggles. "I'm telling you, Sirius Black is staring at me," she smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. That was the thing about Amie, she was so stereotypical; blonde, blue eyed, thin...giggly. If Amie had been above her dainty height of 5'3", you could have seen her as one of those models who are always seen with those so-perfect-it's-almost-plastic looks on their pretty little dolly faces. Instead, she spent her days reading soppy romances and wishing her days away searching for her Prince Charming to sweep her – poor little bookworm, Cinderella – off of her feet. If Lily didn't love her so much, she would despise her with all her heart.

A snort came from the direction of Quinn, who was sat just next to Amie, her dark hair in her eyes as she scanned through her History of Magic assessment for what could only be the seventeenth time; why she cared so much about said paper, Lily hadn't a clue. With Lily staring at her, Quinn lifted her eyes from the parchment, instead allowing them to fall in the direction that Amie was swooning in, her eyes narrowing as they dropped onto Sirius Black, yet she couldn't stop the smile from slipping onto her lips at the sight of him, clearly unaware that Lily was watching her _very _closely. Catching her best friend's eyes as she turned back, Quinn's eyes widened as she took in Lily's expression of knowing, a cheeky grin lighting up her own face, and she quickly flushed a little before clearing her throat and looking back at her assignment. But Lily knew, of course Lily knew, this was her best friend of six years! She simply shook her head, grinning from cheek to cheek, looking in the direction of Sirius herself, grimacing at the pathetic wave Amie flashed at him. And that was when she saw him, smiling sweetly across the room at her, his glasses slightly further down his nose than usual, his hair just as ruffled. For a moment, all she could do was stare at him, at the way he seemed oblivious to the way his friends were joking around him, oblivious to everything else happening in the room, all the catastrophe surrounding him that he would usually take great interest in. All he could see – all that he needed to see – was her. He noticed the way a smile began to creep up onto her lips, noticed the way it dropped and her eyes widened as she too realised, noticed the way she stood up suddenly, quickly looking away from him and hurrying out of the room, not even a word of goodbye to her friends. It was those very actions that knocked his own smile off of his face.

Lily pushed her way through the door, walking hastily down the corridor until she came to the door she had been instructed to do so, her mind spinning almost painfully, sending her into a dizzy state. She ran a clammy hand through her newly brushed hair – for Katy had almost dragged her into the girls' bathrooms to fix herself up at the very start of lunch, as though she was embarrassed to be seen with someone who looked as though they didn't have two sickles to rub together and spent their whole life at the bottom of a bottle of Firewhisky, not an attractive look, to say the least. Blinking furiously, her face no longer stained with mascara smudges, she pulled the door open, slipping through to face yet another of the day's catastrophic events. She caught her Professor's eyes, who beckoned for her to come closer, right up to her desk. Gulping a little, she rubbed her hands over her face, once again smudging her make-up, but this time only slightly. Lily couldn't remember the last time she had been in trouble, yet knew as her stomach rolled that this could not be a pleasant experience, it was Professor McGonagall after all, one of the most feared and stern witches at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Take a seat, Miss Evans, while we wait for Mr Potter."

The moment the words left McGonagall's lips, Lily felt her heart stop beating, felt it freeze hard and heavy in her chest. The one boy who she had just run away from was going to be in the room with her, facing the same punishments as her? Well, didn't her day just keep getting better and better. She shut her eyes tight as she dropped into the nearest seat, her head dazed and her thoughts jumbled, tumbling over each other in an attempt to be noticed, but she blocked them all out, focusing on her breathing instead. In, out, in, out. Slowly, her breathing became more regular, and she began to feel more in control, not caring what McGonagall thought of her bizarre behaviour, perhaps noting it down as nerves of being in trouble, for she was, indeed, nervous, but she was more nervous about not being able to hide from Potter. She didn't want to see him... she _couldn't _see him!

With a loud bang, he pushed the door open, allowing it to slam behind him. Lily jumped suddenly, her eyes snapping open, though she managed to refrain from turning to look at him as his footsteps stopped abruptly, clearly confused as to why the redhead was also in the room, sitting stiff and unnatural. "Mr Potter, I hope the only reason that you missed Transfiguration today was so that you could catch up with extra Quidditch practice! We _have _to win this year!" McGonagall shouted, her voice getting louder and louder as she adressed him, her eyebrows pulling together to form a frown as she glared at him. Lily's eyes widened at the sight in front of her, nervous that she was bound to be treated the same way next, for Potter's enjoyment especially. She didn't see him do it, she could just _tell, _tell that his hand had gone to his hair as he looked for some kind of excuse as to his absence that didn't sound to obviously fake. "Sorry, Professor, it won't happen again. I just... don't want to lose the cup another year running, as you said," he mumbled, looking at Lily as he did so. Almost as though she could feel his eyes burning into her skull, she finally turned, but shot her eyes away as they met one another. She didn't need this, she didn't need _him, _she was perfectly fine by herself, thank you very much. "And as for you, Miss Evans, if you are ever late to my lesson again, I can assure you, you'll regret it," McGonagall continued, adressing Lily in a much lighter tone, despite the threat in her words. Nodding, Lily stood up before McGonagall had even flicked her hand as permission for them to leave. Darting out of the room, she heard the soft voice of James Potter call her name after her, his footsteps chasing her, but he would never get her; she was too far gone.

* * *

**A/N:** Eeek, like it? Were the flashbacks cute enough? There is ONE more flashback to come in the next chapter, :) ~ evermorekisses


	9. Chapter Nine: About You Now

**DISCLAIMER: **Only the plot is mine :(

**DEDICATION: **I would like to dedicate this chapter to juliaSwan, who sent me the most gorgeous reviews and inboxes that I have ever gotten, and for that I'd like to thank her :)

**A/N: **Here is the longest chapter that I've written so far, at almost 6000 words :O Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has favourited this story, taken time to review it, and added it to their story alerts. And even bigger thankyou goes out to all of you whom have added me to your favourite authors - it's for you guys that I'm still writing. Also, for those of you who have read **Call Me Draco**, that fanfiction is currently taking the back seat until I have completed Taking Chances, as I prefer this one by far :) I promise to keep updating it, but updates will be slow, as most of my time goes to **TC**. On a different note; some of the chapters have been proof-read again, and mistakes have been found, so I have now corrected the majority of those. Keep those **R&R**s rolling in guys! :)

It's time for all secrets to be revealed!

"**Can we bring yesterday back around, 'cause I know how I feel about you now. I was dumb, I was wrong, I let you down, but I know how I feel about you now. " - Sugababes**

**Chapter Nine: About You Now**

Somewhere high in the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a sudden ringing of bells made four boys awake with a start, their eyes snapping open and their heads hurting from the screeching noise. Two of these boys, both of which were laid in their large, wooden four-poster beds, wrapped up warm in their thick hippogriff feather duvets and their smooth wool blankets, turned over with monotonous grunts, mirroring the other's actions further by sticking their heads under their soft pillows in a useless attempt to drown out the horrendous sound. The other two sat up in their beds - beds alike those of the first boys - knowing the impossibility of sleeping through such a racket. One of these boys, a boy with light brown hair that stuck up slightly from his slumber, swung his legs out of the warmth and onto the freezing flagstones of the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory. He moved, wearing nothing but drawstring maroon pyjama bottoms, his torso marked with pale scratches that seemed to be slowly healing, towards the window, opening it with a tug before searching for the source of the noise. The other boy remained sat up in bed, eyes wide despite the fact that it was no later than six in the morning, not making any attempt to move, his mousy hair flopping over his chubby face. Peter Pettigrew merely stared at Remus Lupin, who silenced the tiny alarm clock that was running all around the room with a swish of the wand that he had pulled from his beside table just moments earlier.

The cool, crisp air swam in through the large glass windows, trickling around the already chilly room and trying desperately to infiltrate the warmth that lay under the red covers, eager to claim every inch of the dormitory as its own. Remus, as though not feeling the cold, headed in the direction of the two sleeping boys, their figures both trying to embed themselves into the mattresses, in hope that they would never have to leave the heat. Of course, Remus had other plans. With a flick of his wand, the pillows flew off the two boys' heads, dropping instead to the floor beside their beds with barely a whisper of sound, causing both of them to groan yet again, the longer haired of the two even pulling his duvet up over his head instead, not realising that his feet were now completely uncovered, or perhaps he just didn't care. Remus sighed and Peter began to pull himself out of bed, changing into his robes quietly. Realising that further action was necessary, Remus walked over to the huge oak door of their room and, with a loud slam that caused the boy whose head was covered to jump up, he threw the door closed, afterwards heading back towards the beds and dropping himself down on the barely visible form of the last remaining boy. "Out of bed, Quidditch day! That means _you, _James," Remus shouted, adding the last sentence in a slightly softer tone to the boy upon which he was currently seated, but James Potter barely stirred, possibly because he had a tall seventeen year old boy on top of him. "Sirius, up."

Sirius Black, the shaggy haired boy who had jumped at the loud bang, moaned words under his breath that none of the boys could make out, rolling his eyes and flopping backwards onto his mattress once more, to which Remus only kicked him in the side, removing himself from James. As he was now completely dressed, Peter dropped down onto the end of James' bed cautiously, careful not to put any part of his body on James' feet. "But Remuuuuuuuuuus," Sirius whined, turning his head to look up at the boy above him, "the match doesn't start for another hour. Let me stay in bed for an iddy biddy bit longer?" He pouted, fluttering his widened eyes that reminded Remus of a lost puppy dog. Shaking his head, Remus lifted both of the boys' covers off, dropping them on top of the pillows, for James still hadn't made any sign that he was actually breathing, let alone waking. "Actually, it starts in half an hour, and James is supposed to be down there in fifteen minutes," Remus stated, matter of factly. Looking at the scruffy-haired boy in question, Remus noticed his sentence had had the desired effect. There, in his bed, was James, sat up straight, eyes wide as they searched for the clock in their large room. His tanned bare torso immediately became covered in tiny goosebumps as his duvet dropped, showing his muscled chest to the rest of his friends. "I'm not going," he murmured, turning to the side so that his face was away from the boys. Every single mouth in the room dropped, all eyes widened, and even Sirius awoke fully as he heard the words slip from his best friend's lips. James Potter, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was _not going?_! That was impossible_, ridiculous_ even!

After the initial shock of the exclamation, Sirius started laughing loudly. Raucous sounds, the laughter filled the room up completely as he held his sides tight, trying to stop them from stinging as his laughs grew harder and harder. "Not...going?" Sirius said, between laughs, another round of guffaws starting in his lungs as he repeated the sentence that James had stated just moments before. "Mate, that's a good one, nearly had me for a second," he continued, rolling off of his bed and onto the waiting duvet that cushioned his fall, an almost proud smile on his face as though he was expecting to be awarded for such a feat or, as he put it, 'skills'. He let out a loud sigh as an after affect of all the laughing, still shaking, his grey eyes welling up, and began to crawl along the floor towards the huge trunk that was positioned at the end of his bed. Yes, _crawl - _Sirius wasn't the most sane person in the whole of Hogwarts, and possibly the least mature. James turned around, his eyes dark and distant, a look of almost disappointment in them as they settled on the top of Sirius' head, who looked back up at him, grinning. James was _not _grinning. If anything, he was _grimacing_, and the smile quickly dropped off Sirius' face. "I'm serious," James tried again, dropping his eyes in shame at what he was saying – there was no way that they would win the Quidditch Cup without him, their Captain and Chaser. He was by _far_ the best player on the team, and no one compared to him, in fact, he was possibly even the best player in the whole _school_.

Again, Sirius began laughing. "No, no, no! How many times are you gonna do this, James?" He winked at him, before continuing. "_I'm _Sirius. Jeesh. I know you want to _be _me and everything, but -" Sirius cut off, the look in James' eyes finally registering in his mind, and he stood up suddenly, eyes blazing and glaring down at the boy who had yet to leave his bed. "You listen to me, James Potter!" He shouted, causing all three of the boys to jump in surprise and James' head to snap up, eyes wide in shock. Sirius pointed one long finger at his best friend, crazy hair sticking up from his head at every angle, 'You're going to get your ass out of bed, get into your Quidditch robes, go down to the Great Hall, and you're gonna join the hell in!" Sirius dropped his finger, instead leaning closer to James, who looked back with a mixture of shock and sudden resentment. No one had ever heard Sirius speak in such a serious tone, never had anyone see him be so passionate about anything, yet here he was, practically kicking his best friend's (metaphorical) butt. Only one person was to blame; Lily Evans. "And do you know _what?_" Sirius almost yelled straight into James' face, "You're gonna bloody well _win!" _In that moment, James was scared. Or, at least, he would have been, if the person threatening him hadn't been wearing lilac coloured boxers.

* * *

"You know, you never did tell me more about that little date of yours."

The sun was hanging low in the early morning sky, half hidden behind the crisp green grass layered in frost and the remains of last night's fog still hanging close to the ground, casting an almost eerie appearance to the setting. The sky was a painting of colours, reds and golds, yellows and oranges, purples and blues, all mixed together around the burning yellow sun. A loud wind was rattling through the trees, setting the air to an even cooler temperature and leaving people grasping their warm scarves to their goosepimpled necks as they fought away the cold. It was almost like even the sky was supporting Gryffindor as the pupils filed out onto the Hogwarts ground in the direction of the Quidditch stadium looming ahead of them, four bright sections shining the house colours, three golden hoops at each end. The crowd was bubbling with excitement and anticipation, a mixture of red and blue swimming in with one another to make a bundle of colours. Heading through the crowd, cloak wrapped around her against the harsh morning weather and sporting her striped gold and red scarf, Lily Evans stuffed her hands into her woollen mittens, her fingers already feeling as though they could fall off.

For the first time in her life, Lily felt bad for the players, glad that she wouldn't be out in the cold sat on a broomstick, perhaps minutes away from injury, and working their backside off to get... _a ball. _It wasn't hard to tell that Lily didn't really see the point in Quidditch. Sure, every other thing in the magical community excited her, surprised her, left her eager to know more, but _Quidditch_? Not one of them. Perhaps it was because she had been raised by muggles, neither of her parents having known about Hogwarts until her eleventh birthday, upon which date she received a letter of invitation and thus her powers became recognised, despite her having believed her childhood friend, Severus Snape, when he told her at a much younger age that she was magic, just like he. After all, she believed for it to be her childhood without magic that excited her so much over learning new things, whereas her other friends didn't take such an interest – especially Quinn. Quinn had been born into one of the most well known pure-blood families around, but she'd never once let that faze her, had never once shown any of the qualities that a Slytherin pure-blood family would. Well, except when she tried to get Lily out of bed on the mornings, then she showed enough evil traits to take_ all_ of the Slytherins on. Yet not a single member of her family had been placed into Slytherin for little over a decade, with most of them ending up in Ravenclaw for their sheer wit and intelligence. It surprised Lily that her other friend, Amie, had not been sorted into Ravenclaw herself, being one of the cleverest and most dedicated girls that she had ever met. Quinn's earliest relatives believed that their family was going downhill, that if they didn't get a child into Slytherin soon, then the whole Reynalds line would become a disgrace. Yet Quinn, her sister Rosa, and her parents, merely laughed and mocked the whole system. As far as they were concerned, their ancestors were a bunch of Dark Wizard loving, Muggle hating, Mudblood discriminating _tossers_. They themselves loved Lily, no matter her being born to muggles.

"You know, you never did tell me more about that little _note_ of yours," Lily replied, receiving a frosty look from Quinn that said many a thing, mostly that if Lily mentioned that exact thing ever again, she wouldn't awake the next day. Either way it worked, because the brunette dropped her head, instead turning to Katy where they suddenly struck up an energetic, hand gesturing conversation about Quidditch that had Quinn jumping up and down at one point, her soft curls bouncing against the red lined hood of her robes, her top button undone and her tie loose around her neck in a way that screamed the fact she couldn't care less, even if her best friend was the prefect, the goody-goody, the one who she would've hated if she wasn't so darn _cute!_ Lily rolled her eyes, turning behind her to look at Amie, whose long blonde hair was dropping over her bright blue eyes as she stared down at the frosted grass, appearing to be muttering to herself. "Hey, Aims, how abou- ow!" Lily's train of thought was lost as she walked head first into someone in front of her as a result of facing the wrong direction – not a clever idea when you are walking in a crowd of hundreds, all heading to the same location with an almost spooky eagerness to reach it. Turning around with her sharpest of glares, even if she knew it had been her own fault, Lily faced the obstacle in her path, the obstacle that was the _last _obstacle she had ever wanted to come across; she'd have much rather faced a dragon than the boy in front of her.

"Hey, Lily," James Potter stumbled, his hand running through his hair in the annoying way that it only ever did when he was nervous... or flirting. By the glitter in his eyes, and the history that the two of them had – not just his constant obsession with asking her on multiple dates – there was no doubt that it would be a mixture of the two of them. Was he nervous of the game awaiting him, as he stood there in his red and gold jersey, sleek broomstick in hand, or did she simply have that affect on him nowadays? Was the cocky, annoying 'I'm-Merlin's-Gift' attitude that he - and Sirius Black - took to everything really gone, with this new James Potter in its place? Lily knew she would only be able to tell with time, but whatever she had eaten had started to react badly with her stomach, causing it to flip-flop eagerly as though putting on a show of its greatest acrobatics, her heart speeding. Of course, it couldn't have _anything_ to do with the way that his hair flopped attractively over his eyes, and neither did it have anything to do with the fact that his jersey had a certain way of showing off his muscles through the thin, yet luxurious, material. It wasn't even to do with the fact that something had happened, something that Lily wasn't planning on telling anyone in a million trillion years. No, all that was to blame was a badly cooked piece of bacon, or just one bad egg.

"Look, I've been thinking..." James continued, just the sentence itself making Lily want to pull a face of mock surprise and tease him about how he should never think as it would hurt his very small brain, or question him upon his health, for no normal James would think, right? And when the hell did she start thinking of him as James? Oh, yeah, that's right, _that _night. "And I think that you should at least give me a little something to wish me luck, yeah?" He looked down at her, his hazel eyes staring into her own shocking green ones, as he slung his arm around her waist in an attempt to pull her closer. Staring back, Lily could feel herself being dragged into his charm, dragged into the depths of his brown eyes that looked so... perfect. She couldn't blink, she couldn't breathe, and she especially couldn't move. So there she remained, in James' arms, Quinn watching with her mouth dropped open mid-sentence, Katy staring at the two of them almost enviously, and Amie finally looking up from the ground at the frozen image before her, yet they never noticed anything was out of the ordinary. This was _James Potter, _this was his _game, _the very game that he had been playing for near on seven years now, it came as normal to them, average, what they could expect everyday. The only difference this time, was that Lily wasn't pushing him away, she just seemed to be frozen, melting even. And then something must have clicked in her head as he began to lean towards her, his face growing closer and closer to hers, for she was pushing him away, hands hard against his chest.

"No! Potter, no!" Lily shouted at him, squirming to get free from his grasp, not daring to look at the face that she knew would be riddled with hurt, for the guilt would kill her on the inside, would chew her up and spit her right back out again, so that she was a mess of half chewed, saliva covered, grotesque _mush._ "I – I have to go," she mumbled, releasing herself from his arms that dropped stiffly back to his side, hands curling into tight fists. Without looking back, she pushed herself through into the crowd, running ahead of people so that she didn't have to be anywhere near James, anywhere near the boy who had almost got her a second time around. The people around her seemed nothing but blurs of colour, their confused and alarmed faces as she barged them aside nothing but a sea of faces, not a single one of them burning out the one face that wouldn't leave her mind, not a single one of them comparing to his. James just stood there, hurt running through his eyes as they widened in woe; woe that he really didn't need just before a game, but woe that he could use to turn into anger; anger that would keep him safe. "Well... that's a bit of a bummer." Quinn said, taking her blunt nature and stating the total obvious. Shame that she couldn't notice the other obvious secrets if they hit her in the nose or, for a taste of her own medicine, the jaw.

* * *

_"Well, Mr Potter," Lily, winking, hiccuped a little, causing her to giggle gently, a sound that made James' heart glow, and a large smile made his face all the more picture of beauty, beauty that Lily was starting to see, now that she was no longer afraid to admit it. Or perhaps she had just drunk so much Butterbeer that the beer-goggles were just starting to take their course, for she now noticed the exact way in which his jaw curved, the way his deep, entrancing hazel eyes were neither blue nor green, but a mixture of the two. James himself had drunk very little, the girl that he had spent the whole night with being the only drug that he needed to keep himself happy – and happy she had sure kept him. All night, past the first two bottles of alcohol, Lily had been giggling and making jokes, teasing him and laughing at pretty much everything that he said. Perhaps it was the fear mixed with the tiny amount of alcohol that she had consumed to that point, or maybe Lily really was just a complete and utter lightweight. Her head felt light as she gazed into the beautiful eyes in front of her, her eyes wider than could ever be possible, almost giving the impression that she was on crack, but even so, her head spun and her stomach flipped in a way that had her thinking she was about to throw up everything that she had eaten that night, except the flipping was almost... pleasant, like butterflies were flapping their wings in a rhythmical dance of love and passion, longing and hope, dreams and happiness. She began to feel slightly dizzy, almost as though she was getting a premature hangover, or maybe that's just what she hoped it was as she flung her arms around his neck to stop herself from tripping. _

_ James nodded at his name, grinning down at the completely drunk redhead in front of him whom he could only imagine would scold herself if usual Lily, _prefect _Lily, caught herself in such a state, and he could picture her telling herself off tomorrow morning, or – rather – later, as it was already well past three in the morning. He could see her now, groaning at her throbbing headache, stomach rolling at the sight of food, and feeling nothing less than sick, sick, _sick! _James suddenly felt sorry for her, an emotion that sent his hand to, once more, push a strand of hair from her face, a strand that appeared to have stuck there. Lily's bright red hair was tumbling past her shoulders, no longer in the intricate plait that it had started out in, the curls rolling over her chest perfectly, as though she was an angel sent from heaven to give him everything that he ever wanted, and ever would want; that itself summed up exactly how James felt about Lily Evans. James remembered back to hours before, when she had first pulled out the hair band from her plait, running her fingers through her curls whilst standing up and swaying her hips in what she had called her 'Sexy Dance'. It had to be true, James had never seen anything sexier than Lily rolling her hips with a bottle of Firewhisky in one hand, her other wrapped in her hair - but neither had he seen anything more amusing. He'd had to use everything in his power to stop him from jumping on her right then and there, to stop him from taking advantage of her once and for all. Her cheeks were a light pink from the Butterbeer, and he hated to think that the cute smile curling on her lips wasn't just because she was in his presence, and James should have been telling her to keep her voice down, to stop giggling so loudly, but nothing would let him scold a girl so beautiful, __so perfect, so cute, funny, amazing, and, well... _here.

_ Lily's breath smelt of alcohol, but it still smelt like the sweetest thing on the planet, the sugary taste of Butterbeer rolling off her lips. She leant up onto her toes and kissed him gently on the cheek, before tossing him one last smile, running up the stairs with her shoes in her hands. She sighed dreamily, dropping down on the bed as she reached it. Well, that's what she _should _have done. What she _did_ do was something _entirely_ different. _

_ Pulling the corner of her bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth, Lily gazed up at James, at the way his dark brown hair stuck up in a way that no one else's had ever done, in a way that annoyed her so much that she loved it. His eyelashes were much larger than she had ever noticed, thicker and longer, yet not in a feminine way, but a way that made his intricately patterned eyes seem all the more beautiful, all the more breathtaking. First three buttons of his navy shirt undone, she could just see the top of his tanned chest, muscled and smooth, and she could only think that it was the alcohol that made her wish that he wasn't wearing it, that she could truly revel in every inch of it, stare at every curve and every one of his perfect little abs. He looked back down at her through his round glasses, glasses that only James would remember she had taken off of him, placing them upon her own nose and prancing around the picnic area until she tripped and had fallen straight onto James' lap, where she had insisted on sitting for the next half hour, handing him back his glasses and instead trying to flatten his hair. James had to face it, drunk Lily was even better than the Lily of his dreams, because _drunk_ Lily had truly felt like his own. He knew now how much it would hurt to lose that part of her in the morning, when she was completely sober and possibly having forgotten everything of their previous night. "Yes, Miss Evans?" James asked, mimicking her innocent tone, and widening his eyes for extra effect. _

_ There they were, stood outside the stairs that lead up to the girls' dorms, Lily's arms around his neck, shoes hanging from one of her hands, James' own arms reaching around to her waist as she pressed herself closer to his chest, a dreamy look in her eyes as she glanced almost teasingly up at him, her breath taking on the scent of the Firewhisky that she had also consumed, mixed with her earlier scent of Butterbeer. In his arms, against his body, her nose tickled with his smell, a smell that was so perfect that she couldn't even find words to describe it, only thinking of all of her favourite things mixed into one big bundle; one big bundle of James Potter. Slowly, as though in a daze, Lily stood up onto her tiptoes, so that her face was almost level with his own, something that James knew wouldn't be comfortable for her for long. Smiling at her, he wondered what crazy thing she was going to do now, attempt to be taller than him? In her _dreams. _But what happened next was a regular occurrence in _James' _dreams, not her own. She kissed him. Her soft lips pressed against his own slightly nibbled ones, and immediately a sensation much better than that of the Firewhisky that he tasted on her breath over took him, the warmth ten times the power than that of the sweet tasting alcohol could ever match up to. He clung onto her as she gently began to move her lips with his, for now she was his alcohol, and he was completely love drunk. But he would never get too drunk on Lily, would never get sick with her - for she was his everything. Maybe this was just another of her drunken antics, but somewhere, deep down, James knew that she meant it. After all, she had_ _stayed with him, and she couldn't be _that _much of a lightweight to kiss someone she really hated, could she? _

_ Lily's lips brushed against his gently as they seemed to be dancing together, perfectly in sync, perfect for each other in every way. Her mind went even fuzzier than it ever had been, a feeling of euphoria bubbling inside her whole body and taking it over, urging her to keep kissing him, to never stop. She felt as though she could never have too much of him, and was scared that it had taken her this long to realise her feelings, scared that it had taken her so many years and so many bottles of sugary alcohol. But he tasted so magical, a hint of Butterbeer mixed with the freshly picked raspberries they had shared for dessert, Lily insisting on throwing them into his mouth and laughing when he caught them, only to repeat the process seconds later. When she had got bored, she had run away with the raspberries, hiding behind a tree until James had found her, picked her up so that she was hanging over his shoulder, and had carried her back to the blanket, threatening her teasingly all of the way back that he was going to drop her in the Black Lake, to a reply of squeals and playful hits on his shoulder. Whether it was the rush from the alcohol, or the rush from his kiss as it slightly deepened, Lily never wanted it to go away, wanted to remember it forever, yet she knew she wouldn't. Would she remember _any _of it tomorrow? And then their lips were separated, James having pulled back from her and was looking in awe down at her. She stared back up, not a trace of a giggle or a 'gotcha' on __her lips, not a single sign that she had only been tricking him, had only been playing a game, only experimenting. By the look on her face, it had come as as much of a shock to her as it had to him. She really had meant it, she really did feel the same way. She really did... _love _him. What was that they said; there's a thin line between love and hate? Well, it looks like it just got a hell of a lot thinner. _

_ Dropping back onto the soles of her feet, Lily smiled hesitantly at her realisation, not sure where it would take her next, but James answered that for her. Putting his hand under her chin, he lifted it up to face him, and placed one last soft kiss on her lips that lasted no more than a second, before releasing her chin once again. For the few minutes after that, she leant against his chest, holding him close to her, scared to let him go in case everything turned out to be a lie, in case everything was forgotten, in case he regretted it. At least she had him now, and she never wanted that to change. James' hand went up to her hair, stroking it softly, and he dropped one more kiss on the top of her head, to which she looked up at him, searchingly. He did nothing but nod, and she understood, once more, what he was telling her. He was telling her that everything would be okay, that he was there now, that he was all hers, and that no amount of alcohol could make that up, that no amount of sobering up could make her forget him, the taste of his lips. She pulled back, starting up the stairs, knowing what he was telling her to do. He was telling her to go to bed, for he didn't want her to do anything she regretted, didn't want to feel as though he had taken advantage of her. _That _was why he had pulled away, to save her innocence... to save her heart. Turning back to look at him once more, a smile on her lips, her shoes in her hands still, she winked, and _that_ was when she ran up the stairs, not the time that she should have. She ran up the stairs when she did, and darn, she was glad she had waited. _

Damp eyes glistening with the tears of her sorrows, Lily suddenly knew exactly what she was feeling, exactly what she had to do. She had fallen completely in love with James Potter, and she had been falling for a stupidly long time. It was completely typically her to be stubborn enough to hide her heart, to stuff it far away in some back corner and ignore its pleading cries for attention. It appeared to be Butterbeer that could give her heart a voice and control over her body, and it was her heart that now longed for James, that now almost _begged _to be close to him. Seated in the stands, roaring Gryffindors screaming the same name over and over again in a chant, her heart began to cry at the very sound, the sound of her love's name, and through her own eyes, tears began to spill. Hot, heavy tears dripped from her eyes like a waterfall, and she dropped from her feet onto the benches beneath her, the only pupil in the whole stand that wasn't on their feet cheering. Her head spun dangerously, threatening to make her pass out in a single moment, in a single movement. Soon, her face was dripping with tears, and she felt more lonely now then she ever had in her whole lifetime, even though she was surrounded by her friends in a tight huddle, the people that she felt made up her family here squashed in close by. Loud sobs dripped from her mouth, completely hysterical against the whooping crowd, their hands clapping together and their own mouths still emitting the one name that made her heart sting - "Potter, Potter, Potter, Potter!"

Grasping hold of the sleeve of Quinn's robes, Lily tugged as hard as she could through the tears that were so strong that they had her body shaking. Dripping eyes looking up at the fuzzy version of her best friend, the image unclear because of the enormous amount of water in them, she noticed Quinn look down at her uncertainly, shaking her arm in an attempt to get Lily off her robes, not wanting to take her eyes off of the game for a second more than necessary. But one glance at her small redhead friend had her hands frozen mid-clap. She dropped automatically, scared at seeing her usually non-caring best friend in such a state, a state that she had never seen _anyone_ in. Quinn didn't do comfort well, yet here she was, the only Gryffindor who had noticed the girl crying her eyes out. Guilt overthrew her as she dreaded to think of how long Lily had been grappling for her attention, and even more so how long she had been in pain, a black fear creeping up on her. Was she hurt? Was she going to be okay? But still, Quinn was too scared to even place her arm around the girl closest to her in both her heart and mind. Her eyes said everything that Lily needed to hear, and between sobs she found herself telling Quinn her heart's desires, needing to shout over the noisy crowd to be understood.

"Quinn, I-I k-k-kissed James P-Potter," she spluttered, biting her lip to try and quieten her deafening sobs. "A-and I... I don't r-regret it." That was when they heard it, the screams of fear, the shouts for help, the gasps encircling them. Something had happened, someone really _was_ injured. No longer was his name being chanted, now it was being screamed, yelled across the whole of the Quidditch stadium in a kind of haunting requiem. Over and over, screams from all houses, screams of desperation. Lily looked into the sky, her heart pounding. The moment she caught sight of him, her heart stop beating, caught in her chest, and her scream was the loudest of them all, a scream that stopped all of her breathing and she wasn't even aware was hers.

Through thousands of feet of sky, James Potter was falling.

* * *

**A/N: **Eeek, cliffhanger, much? You'll have to wait a few days to find out what happens next, and most importantly, will James be okay? I hope you all liked it :)


	10. Chapter Ten: I Love You More

**DISCLAIMER: **JKR owns :)

**DEDICATION: **Every single one of you who have followed this story through, without you, I wouldn't be writing. A special thank you to all of the reviews and favourites and alerts! I never expected my inbox to get that full! Sorry if I didn't send you a message to say thank you personally (I'm a sucker on doing that), but I haven't had time of late, but I may get around to it, because you're amazing and deserve that much. Especially reviewers, thank you so much for taking the time! :)

**A/N:** I am so so so sorry that it took so long for me to post! I had a serious case of writer's block, and it was actually killing me. In fact, I forced out the first seven paragraphs, so if they're terrible, I apologise in advance. After that, I watched Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, and half way through the Quidditch match it hit me. (And yes, inspiration did just come up to me and slap me around the face, it was awesome.) So, switching off Harry Potter, (sorry, Harry) I jumped onto my laptop, and started typing like a crazy loon. I'm really not sure what I think about this chapter, sorry it's not as good as usual but it was the best I could do. In fact, I think this chapter is pretty boring. (Yes, I realise that for once the title isn't the song name) I'm going up to Edinburgh this afternoon so there may not be a new post for a while (I'm coming back Monday, but you all have my love, and I'll try to write down there). The italics, btw, are Lily's thoughts (but not the singular words, they're just exaggerated, I mean the sentences)

"**The seventh thing I hate the most that you do, you make me love you." - Miley Cyrus.**

**Chapter Ten: I Love You More**

The screams echoed around her, her ears almost ready to burst from the inexplicable mass of sound, her breath being forced painfully out of her already tight lungs as she was pressed into the threatening crowd that was surging forwards, eager to watch the falling boy whose red and gold cloaks billowed in the wind as he fell hundreds of feet to the hard, menacing ground that laid far below him. The screeches were bouncing around the stands like echoes in a never-ending cave, fingers pointed in fear to the black skies, eyes blinking back shock and terror, a terror that Lily could no longer hold back. Her bright eyes watched him fall as though her mind was stuck in slow motion, his broom lost into the dark clouds that watched from above, his arms flailing pointlessly through the expanse of nothing. Everything was happening so slowly, yet too fast, no escape and no return. No one else would be feeling the pain that she was, no one else could dare touch upon the horror that was running through her head, her heart, her soul. All she could think about was the fact that he was falling to what could be his death; and she had never told him how she felt, their last words being words of pure hatred, full of venom and packing a powerful bite. Nothing else mattered; not the chilling screams, not the weight pressed against her back as all the Gryffindors threw themselves forwards, not the throbbing of her sinking heart that was already drowning in the sorrow she couldn't stop from encasing her in its powerful tomb. _He _was the only thing that mattered as he seemed to slow down in his descent, time moving even slower than her mind had already slowed it to, her head rushing. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but the pain Lily felt was enough to last her a lifetime of pitch black depression. She barely heard the sharp, clear whistle over the noise as she threw Quinn's protective arm off of her urgently, ignoring the look of horror on the girl's face as she hastily turned away from the sight that everyone else was staring at, instead staring deep into Lily's face, knowing exactly what she must be thinking. The tears in Lily's eyes seemed to have frozen into place on her pale cheeks, her skin a deathly white that was beyond normal, like that of a corpse, her eyes fixed upon the sight that she knew would haunt her for the rest of time, the feeling of being of no use, of being completely pointless, not being able to save the boy that she loved, was breaking her down.

But Lily saw no more. Ducking under Quinn's arm, she pushed her way through the crowd, the noise seeming nothing but a constant drone in the back of her skull, a drone that meant nothing to her, seemed to be coming from another far away country and not the mouths of the pupils around her. Her broken heart that seemed to have stopped beating hours ago picked up an increasingly fast pace that almost left her stumbling at its intensity and power as she forced her way forwards against the stream that was fighting her back with enough strength to knock her flat on her face, had she not been as stubborn as she was. She felt Quinn's arm reaching out to her through the throng of red and gold, gripping onto her hand without Lily even noticing, for she noticed nothing now but the incessant tearing of her soul that she knew would never feel complete again if she didn't act right then, without a second thought, without a second to spare. He could very well be clinging onto life by his fingertips, slipping closer and closer into the emptiness that awaited him with each moment wasted. Vision blurring through the rivers of tears streaming down her face, Lily whipped out her wand, no longer caring about who she would have to curse to get to his side – she _had _to see him, had to tell him, had to kiss his soft lips... before it was too late. This was her chance, this was now, and this could very well be her last opportunity. Suddenly, people began moving, pushing Lily along with them as though she was a fragile twig caught in the speedy current of a fearsome river, but still she fought onwards, the seconds ticking away in her brain, the only noise that she could hear in the crowded stadium, the only thing that really mattered in her battle to get to him before time no longer belonged to her. Forcing her way through gaps that she had never thought possible to fit through, her lungs were free of air, not a single breath coming from her mouth as her head began to spin, her vision going hazy. She was being pushed down several flights of thin, wooden stairs, scared that they would start to splinter beneath the sudden torrent of footsteps, of people almost running down them, their own breaths being ripped away. One large surge and Quinn felt Lily's hand being ripped out of her own, her fear increasing at the realisation that she had been lost in the crowd, the sea of red; the red of blood.

Lily's ears were pounding with the increased flow of blood around them, the noise supplying her with the omnipresent ticking of her inside clock, forcing her to fight her biggest fears. She'd hardly been in the torrent of screaming pupils for more than half a minute, but it was half a minute longer than she had wanted to be – half of a minute wasted - and she barged people aside, eager to get to the front of the riot that was now spilling onto the frosted grass of the Quidditch pitch, the other houses copying their movements. Yet Slytherin stayed in their seats, not a single care for the body of James Potter sprawled out in the middle of the pitch, a tight circle of teachers surrounding him with the rest of the school standing a few metres back from even them. Except Lily. She was the only one shoving her way through, her tear stained face still as pale as if she had just been told she had several hours left to live; though the reality of what was before her was perhaps worse than even that prospect. Time was running out...maybe it already had. Time was now; and he needed her _now. S_he made it, sprinting across the ground towards where his twisted body lay. Tears swam off her face and onto the ground below her, and she ran as fast as she could, her feet pounding against the floor as many eyes turned to watch her. Lily Evans, the boy that James Potter had forever been in love with and the girl who detested the very presence of him was running to his side as though he was her last chance at life, as though he was her saviour. Looks like her little bit of loving was going to be_ his_ saviour, if only love was enough to bring someone back, to hold them as yours eternally.

Arms reached out for her, grappling at the robes that were swaying around her body, hands trying to grab her and pull her back, but no amount of force was going to stop her now, not when he needed her more than he had ever needed anything else. No spell could restrain her from reaching the one person who she loved, and she would hate herself for the rest of her life if she didn't reach him in time, if she didn't utter those three all important words while she still could. Shoving her way through the circle of teachers, Lily felt nothing for her reputation, no longer worried about the trouble she would get in for acting so harshly to those that she was supposed to respect most. Respect. The exact feeling that was running through the hearts of so many around the stadium. He could very well be slipping away before her eyes - like ice-cold water trickling through warm fingers - and the one thing he wanted, the one person who was better than all of his dreams put together, was running to his aid. None of them realised that it was because of her love for him, perhaps in denial to the fact that soon, James would be taken for good, or perhaps knowing Lily herself too well, and knowing her sincere hate for his every bone; his every bone that she had secretly been falling in love with over the years they'd spent together in the halls of Hogwarts. _Don't let him go, please, not now, not yet. _

Lily threw herself to the ground by his side, angrily batting the tears from her eyes as she gripped his cold hand tight. But still the tears dripped down her eyes in currents of water, raining down from her green pupils that seemed to be swimming in a water-filled sorrow of their own. His eyes were closed, hiding the delicious chocolate brown of them from her sight, and Lily could feel her wet tears dropping down onto his tanned skin, settling there and mixing with his own sweat. Squeezing his frozen hand between both of her own, her sobs echoed around the stadium, the only other sound coming from the buzzing of the whispers running through the stands, whispers of her name, of his, but all Lily could hear was a jumble of their names mixed together in a babble of nonsense, all that she cared about was for the boy just next to her to open his beautiful eyes. She never even noticed Dumbledore holding back the rest of the teachers from running to her side and dragging her away, never noticed the warmth in his bright blue eyes as he watched the two young lovers, so full of hope and love, full of promise and ignorant of reality. They'd done all that they could for him, now it was up to him to fight back, fight for _her. _"Please!" Lily's voice came out as a scream, a yelling plead as she reached out and shook James' body carefully, not wanting to inflict more damage on him, not wanting to hurt him any more. Did he know how much he was hurting_ her_ by not opening his eyes, by not responding? Or did he just not care, not care for the girl who he had forever loved but who blew him off after she had tricked him into believing all of his dreams had come true?

She dropped down against his firm chest, red hair falling over her distorted face as she sobbed silently into his mucky Quidditch jersey, her thin body shaking with the force of her cries. Her arm wrapped tight around his body, pulling him as close to her own as she could, not wanting to ever let go of him again, not even in a million years. From now on, she'd love him, she'd always love him with all of her heart, soul and mind. To her, he was perfect, give or take a few idiotic notions that he kept and a few of his foolish ways. Even when he was unconscious, his hair stuck up in the way that made her want to reach out and touch it, reach out and set it right, yet it never would be right, his hair already _was _right, because wrong really did work amazingly for James. His lips open slightly yet no breath slipping past them, Lily wanted nothing more than to kiss them, kiss away all of their fear, kiss him and maybe bring him back to her, maybe let him know. He _needed _to know, even if he could no longer return the feelings of passion, love, longing. She didn't care how much of a fool she appeared, draped over his lifeless body in front of the whole school, she just wanted James –_ her _James."Lily, we have to move him, he needs to go to the Hospital Wing. Please, Lily." The voices seemed so far away, her mind fuzzy from the love that she felt for him, her body not responding to the pleas that she took no notice of, that seemed as though they were from a dream long ago, a dream that no longer had any significance. He'd always loved her, had always been there for her, and had always wanted her, but she had wasted time, she'd never realised her true feelings for him until it was too late. Perhaps it was karma's way of telling her that she would have to suffer the pain that she had inflicted upon him by not returning his feelings, the pain that she had caused him with each rejection she so carelessly cast in his direction. Well, Karma was a bitch, and karma seemed to have lost this battle.

"Lily?"

This was a new voice, a voice that left her heart beating fast and a blush to run to her cheeks, a voice that practically oozed everything that she was thinking, everything that she was feeling, and she knew in that moment that she could never get enough of that single voice which was the music to her ears, the oxygen to her lungs. His voice came out crackly, questioning, as though it was taking every single part of him to utter that one word that was tainted with everything that she meant to him. Almost as though he couldn't believe exactly what was before his eyes, the girl of his dreams strewn over his body and holding him close to her own heart, James attempted to sit up, to stare into Lily's eyes as she threw her head up in awe, happiness... anger? In the moment that he fell back, not enough strength to hold himself up, she jumped up off his body, her eyes blazing with the flames of a thousand fires, the heat of the hottest day. No more did she feel the tugging need to tell him everything that she felt, no more did she want to take him in her arms and kiss every inch of his tender body. As though all of the pent up fear was tumbling out of her, her words were raised in a shout as she spoke to him, arms flying out to the sides. Everything about her oozed power and self-importance, everything about her seeming to be on fire, yet only James could see what really lay below the embers of her eyes. Concern. Concern for his health, his safety, his heart. Concern for everything that could get in the way of them because love isn't a game of safety, it is a game of danger, fear, loss, a game that takes place in the most treacherous of uncharted waters, waters that they were both slipping deeper and deeper into.

"Don't _ever _do that again, Potter! Don't you _ever _put yourself in danger like that! What the hell would I do without you?" The shouts tumbled from her lips as he stared up at her, his hazel eyes relishing in the glory of her, her face, her body, her passion, and in that moment, he wished he had control over his body better, wished he could jump up and pull her into his arms, wrap his hands around her waist and kiss her with all the passion that she was displaying. It wouldn't matter who was watching, in fact, the more the better, for James no longer wanted to keep anything a secret, now he wanted everything to be out in the open, revealed for all to see. He didn't want to let her go, not now that he had tasted her bitter-sweet magic, felt her soft lips brush against his own and felt her hot tears against his chest. Despite her anger, her fury, he simply looked back into her green eyes, his own eyes holding such a warmth that they were almost like melted chocolate, gooey and gorgeous, delicious and fantastic, yet his eyes wouldn't stop the words tumbling out of his mouth in pure defensive mode, the mode that he had used so many times that it seemed almost default, especially with Lily. Constantly being accused of foul play by the girl you love would knock any man's ego, but not James Potter. No, he simply got a kick out of it. "Well don't cry then! If you hadn't have worried me by your hysterics then maybe I'd still - wait...what?" His sentences started out as shouts, accusing tones of their own, dropping the blame onto Lily exactly as she had already done to him, yet the anger broke away as the realisation of what she had just said hit him hard like a bucket of cold water thrown over his body, leaving him drenched with the truth. Did she really just hint that she would be lost without him? Did she maybe have feelings for him after all? James could only believe so, but that could have been because that was what he hoped to be true, what he had dreamt about for as long as he remembered, had wished upon stars for. But if that was the case, why was Lily there by his side, tears still dripping down her guilt-stricken face, the clear droplets resting on her flushing cheeks, flushed from anger or embarrassment, happiness or upset?

Before James had the chance to question her further, Lily threw her hands out to her sides in exasperation, her red curls being cast around her face in the wind, her robes twirling around by her feet. If she wasn't feeling the queasy pounding of blood coursing into her cheeks, her fast heart beats sending her slightly dizzy, she was certain she would have been shivering from the cold as the left side of her black robes fell from her shoulder, hanging halfway down her arm in a pathetic kind of way, yet she couldn't care less. He was alive, he was safe, and he was hers. She was _his. _Surely everything would be okay now, right? She pursed her slightly red lips, a frown forming on her brow and casting an overall more worried face than had even been set on there before, something that those around would never have believed possible. Something about that face, about the way it was riddled with concentration, hope, joy, confusion; something about that face told her every thought, her every deepest darkest secret, her every wish to the whole of the school onlooking, their own breaths held in anticipation. Even those who knew neither James nor Lily felt their hearts racing, their eyes wide in desperation to know what was happening between such a forlorn yet beautiful girl, and what appeared to be her handsome prince. If only it hadn't been so messed up. Yet she knew she had to say it, she could feel it bubbling up from all areas of her body, her stomach, her core, her heart, the very _essence _of her being. She knew, with the moment that it fell from her lips, that she would feel a sense of release, a sense of realisation and of the heavy weight lifting from her shoulders – just thinking about saying it gave her a strange satisfaction. _Three words, eight letters. Come on, Lily, _"I love you!" As she shouted them, the words even shocked Lily herself, and she immediately clasped her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening with a mixture of horror and fear. _Great, well done, Lily, just go and bleed your heart out to _the _most popular guy in school, that's cool! _Her conscience screamed at her in annoyance, yet there seemed to be just a hint of pride in her mind, and, as predicted, the feeling washed over her like a tide rolling in to the shore.

"I love you, you idiot." She added in a softer tone, dropping back down besides him and pressing her lips soft against his cheek, which flushed upon her touch, and a grin lit up his face with happiness and joy, a joy that he had never felt anything alike before. Even riding on his broom, high up where he felt untouchable, unstoppable, even the exhilaration of that couldn't compare in the slightest to the way his heart pounded as the words seemed to sing into his ears, echoing over and over in his mind in a perfect melody of all the sweetest, most angelic of chords that mixed into the symphony of love. She smiled against his cheek, grinning down into his eyes, and James felt his heart surge at the very sight of her so happy besides him, radiating joy, completely and utterly _sober. _Lifting his arm, James grabbed the back of Lily's neck and pulled her down against him, playfully kissing her straight on the lips with a teasing force, yet kissing her tenderly, their lips moving slowly, brushing against each other's gently and sending tingles down both of their spines. She loved him, she really truly loved him, and it felt amazing. The fluttering in her stomach kept her light-headed, much alike the same effect of the Butterbeer she had drunk last night, only ten times more pleasurable. It seemed, to her, like James was her alcohol now, and even if she'd sobered up, he was only going to get her completely drunk again, acting like a fool over ever single detail of him, her heart throbbing with every glance. And yet she was never going to let go, not now that she knew the truth, not now that everything was going to be okay. It _had _to be okay, it'd taken them six years to get to this point, six whole treacherous and tediously boring years full of false belief that had only just turned into something real.

James pulled back, yet Lily's eyes remained shut, her lips slightly open. She wanted to revel in the moment of magic for just a little longer before reality kicked back in, for when her lips had met his, everything else had faded away. All that there now was was him, and nothing could ever stop her from feeling the way that she suddenly felt, the rushing of her heart, the pounding in her mind as everything became jumbled. But jumbled was good – jumbled was the result of James Potter's breathtaking kisses. Even his soft laugh at the expression on her face made her heart beg for him, and she slowly opened one eye, peering down at him, at his mouth open wide as loud laughs slipped from his lips, at his hazel eyes glittering with mischief. She couldn't stop herself, and within seconds, she was laughing along too, soft, playful sounds that caused him to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her to him as the teachers began to swarm in, obviously picking up that now everything was okay. But James and Lily were the only two able to see that everything wasn't okay – it was perfect. Standing up, and James pulling himself up with her, Lily flushed an even darker pink as his fingers wrapped themselves through her own, squeezing them tight as though never wanting for them to stop touching, and that was exactly the reason why he held so tightly. He couldn't lose her now, he _wouldn't. _He was all hers, for now, and forever. Casting her eyes around the circle nearby, Lily spotted Quinn, her own hand encased in that of another, another who Lily was so wrapped up in James that she barely noticed his fingers looped through those of her best friend. Quinn simply winked one bright blue eye at her, reaching her free hand out to take Lily's own. And just like that, hand in hand, all four turned their backs on the stadium, leaving everything behind, everything and everyone, for in that moment, they held onto those that they cared the most about, and James' breath tickled her ear as he pressed his lips close to them, whispering quietly into her ear.

"I love you more."


	11. Chapter Eleven: Chasing Cars

**DISCLAIMER:** All characters, places, and anything else Hogwarts related does not belong to me. Sirius included, though I reckon he would be totally cute sat in my house with big puppy dog eyes :)

**A/N: **I am so sorry that it took me so long! I went to the Edinburgh Festival, and wow, was it amazing! This chapter is pretty short... and I think the emotions run out half way through, because I was kinda... rushing :/ I'm off to Amsterdam in the morning, so I couldn't write as much as I wanted to, but I wanted to post this for you all tonight, rather than leave you waiting yet another ten days, so sorry it's so rushed, but enjoy! (I promise next chapter wont be boring, and will be funny)

"**If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world. I don't quite know how to say how I feel, those three words are said too much, they're not enough. If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world. Forget what we're told, before we get too old, show me a garden that's bursting into life, all that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see. I don't know where, confused about how as well, just know that these things will never change for us at all." - Snow Patrol**

**Chapter Eleven: Chasing Cars**

It's never a pleasurable experience to be struck in the head by a speeding bludger, and James Potter was feeling it to the maximum. The starting state of euphoria that had come from either the severe knock on the head – though, harder than that of a cricket bat being smashed against your skull, knock wasn't really the right word – or from the knowledge that Lily Evans, the girl of his dreams and probably that of many others, felt just as strongly for him as he did for her, had soon vanished. In it's place, he was instead left with a heavy throbbing, a pounding headache, and a bucket to grasp in case his concussion got to the point in which he would be forced to use it. Against all the odds, he was extremely lucky to be alive to tell the tell of the boring room he now lay in – if Dumbledore's spell that had slowed his descent had not been cast, he would have surely broken every bone in his body – but he felt far from lucky. The stones that made up the Hospital Wing's walls were boring shades of cream and grey, the very sight of them causing the bed bound boy to feel emotions close to those of suicidal thoughts. Sure, he had spent many a night in these deathly silent beds beforehand, had lain on the hard, uncomfortable mattresses too many times to count, yet he had never wanted to leave anywhere as much as he did in that exact moment. He was a prisoner stuck in his own body. There was only one thing making his stay bearable; Lily.

Head drooping against the back of the armchair she was seated in, her red hair fanned out against the dark blue fabric, her lips open the tiniest amount and an almost inaudible sighing was sneaking past her lips as she breathed. Long eyelashes flickered every once in a while, her eyes closed and occasionally fluttering as though she was in discomfort, or halfway between dreaming and waking up. Her flawless skin was freckled, casting an even more adorable appearance over the sleeping girl, her cheeks pink with the happiness of all her hopes spilling into her dreams, a ghost of a smile on her lips despite the faded tear tracks running from her eyes, a few smudges of mascara here and there. Time seemed to have passed so quickly, and it was almost spell binding to believe that just a single day earlier she had yet to realise the feelings for the boy beside her, his hand linked tightly with her own, his thumb rubbing patterns into the back of her dainty hands. She was all that he had ever wanted, and a goofy smile grew onto his lips, increased only so by the strangely satisfactory feelings washing over him, the feelings that made him want to jump out of his bed right then, and do an odd little Irish jig. Why Irish, he would never understand, but the only thing keeping him beneath the covers was the heavy bucket and the soft skin of Lily's warm hands. He knew in that moment that removing his eyes from her perfect face, so calm and serene as she slept on, would be the hardest thing that he would ever have to do. The warm glow of the rising sun shone through the high glass windows, lighting up her face and making her seem almost heavenly, like she was a figure of his own imagination. But James wasn't dreaming, this girl really _was_ his.

"Mnmh," Lily mumbled softly, her green eyes slowly fluttering open to gaze longingly at the boy in front of her. Her heart seemed to melt as her eyes met his, the hazel colour mouldering and glittering as though that was his very cause, his very aim, and damn, it was working. Propped up with several soft pillows behind his back, a few brown strands of smooth hair flopped in front of his eyes, while the hair at his roots continued to stick up as though he had just woken up. In all fairness, he probably had just awoken, but Lily knew that the messy carelessness of his hair would never sit flat, no matter how much work or spells went into it. He was one big bundle of mess; but he was one _hot _mess. One hot mess that belonged to Lily Evans; and she wanted to whole world to know it, wanted to scream it from the rooftops and write it in the stars. To think, no little than twenty-four hours ago, she had been almost one hundred percent that she hated him more than anything else in the entire universe, yet now she realised that he was her universe. There wasn't one person anywhere that she would rather be sleeping besides, even if it wasn't as simple as that; she would much rather have slept in his arms all night, yet a few of his arms had been broken, or at least fractured, so she had been forced onto the chair, screaming at anyone if they tried in the slightest to move her, to send her back to her dormitory for sleep. If it hadn't been for Dumbledore, to which love was the most powerful form of magic, a magic not to be meddled with, Lily would most definitely have been dragged into the Gryffindor common room, despite the huge amount of force it would have taken to get her to move.

Needless to say, James had only attempted to walk a few metres from the Quidditch stadium holding Lily's hand before he had thrown his weight around the shoulders of Sirius Black, the boy who had lugged him in from there, not even daring to detaching the grip that the two lovers shared on each other's hands. A huge grin was spread on his face, despite his best friend's near death. At the end of the day, the whole experience was probably a bit of added fun for Sirius, something for him to tell the grand-kids; not that he would ever want any, being the playboy that he was. A smile grew onto Lily's lips and she edged forwards a little, leaning as close to James as possible. Her bright green eyes dropped to his chest, the one place that her head was desperate to rest upon, the one place that seemed the most tempting and comfortable place in the world to Lily at that very moment. Almost sensing her desire, James pushed down the dark blue covers that hid his body and restricted his movements; one of the things that had stopped him from reaching out for his glorious girlfriend all night. His bruised chest was bare down to his hips, a small trail of light brown fuzz leading down his tanned abdomen from his belly-button to the top of his red drawstring pyjama bottoms. He no longer needed the covers to keep him warm and protected. All that he needed now was her, her smell, her soft skin pressing against his own tender skin, the feel of her silky hair against his cheek, and for once, he was all that _she _needed. When the hell did things get so... topsy-turvy, so messed up, so... amazing?

"Good morning, beautiful," James muttered as her head dropped lightly down onto his tanned skin, careful to avoid the occasional patch of blue, brown and purple that were the tell tale signs of a tender bruise that would no doubt hurt if she set enough pressure down on it. Leaning down to kiss the top of her head that was resting against his collar bone, and placing his own head down so that it was touching against hers, James ran his index finger slowly along her jaw bone, slightly lifting her chin up so that he could look into her eyes, eyes that he found to be closed. It wasn't that Lily didn't want to look at him, for that couldn't have been further from the truth. No, she had her eyes shut for one reason; his scent. He smelled of everything that she had ever dreamed of and more, cinnamon that reminded her of past Christmas and the hope of those that were to come, a slightly musky smell that she imagined could only be from whatever cologne he used, wet grass that made her think of the first days of spring, the time when everything started over again. It couldn't be more perfect, yet she knew that if she opened her eyes for even a second, his smell would be lost to her as she would begin to be entranced by his face again, his eyes, his hair, his mouth, his nose, the few tiny little freckles just under his left eye that were so faint, no one but Lily had ever noticed them. But Lily had noticed everything, for he had fallen asleep soon after they had reached the Hospital Wing, and with no one else to accompany her – Quinn heading off to the lessons that Lily had been excused from, and Sirius getting fed up of attempting to draw on James' face with Lily giving him the evil-eye every ten seconds, decided to follow her shortly after – she had had nothing better to do than stare at him. And think. She'd done a lot of that, _thinking. _

_ "_Hey, dreamy," she replied, though she knew very well that she was the dreamy one, but not for her appearance. It felt as though her head was still a hundred miles off, in an unknown land that she would happily let it stay there forever, if it allowed her to feel this light-headed and happy for the rest of her life. Draping his arm across the side of Lily's body, James smiled down at her. "How did you sleep? Am I hurting you? Do you want any water? Any food? 'Cause I'm sure I can run down to the kitchens and get you anything you want..." Lily trailed off, sitting back from the bed suddenly, James' arm dropping off of her as she pushed a hand through her knotted red hair, pulling the front sections off of her face. Her eyes were riddled with worry, and her eyebrows pulled together as though she was deep in concentration. Yet James laughed at the very sight, a sound that caused her hand to instead reach for the left side of his face, gently turning it to face her so that she could inspect every inch of it, almost as though she was searching for some sign of dementia, of hurt even. But there was nothing there, and this fact relaxed her slightly, to the point that her forehead uncreased and she leant back down against his firm body, yet she continued to stare directly up at him, the worry refusing to leave her green eyes, even as the warmth of his own eyes bounced across to her. "I'm fine, I'm fine," James said, a wide smile on his lips, the ghost of a laugh on them as though it was going to bubble back up any second and make Lily's heart glow once more just at the sound of it; the sound of his happiness. His happiness meant her happiness, because he was everything to her, and to lose him now, after everything, would tear her apart inside. As Lily's pink lips opened slightly as though she was about to protest against his own will, he pressed his fingers against them, laughter dancing in his eyes. Not at her, but in happiness, happiness that she cared so about him, that she finally felt the same way about him as he did for her, even if not as strongly as he did. If love could be compared to coffee, James' for Lily would be black – the strongest and most mysterious. "I'm _fine... _But there is _one _thing that I desire," his eyes glittered as he spoke, a hint of teasing in his voice, pausing to which Lily looked up at him as though he held the destiny of the world in his hands. One thing was sure, he held her very own destiny in his hands now, her life belonging to him, her heart a gift of happiness. Questioning stung her eyes as she stared into his own beautiful eyes that glowed with the love swarming up from his heart, his soul. "You."

Lily couldn't contain herself any more, couldn't hold onto the beast fighting to get out of her chest, and her stomach flipped repeatedly, something that made her feel queasy from his every touch, his every smile, his every breath against her skin. Throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her lips hard against his, she no longer appeared to care about his bruises, wanted nothing more than to kiss him and never allow their lips to break contact, never let go of him ever again. Last time she'd let him go, he'd almost died, and it was all her fault, she was the one to blame for his current situation, and it stung her heart to admit it. If she had never cried, if she had never been so stubborn against loving him in the first place, then he would never have been distracted by her, would never have taken his eye of the game and allowed the bludger to hit him just like that, the quaffle slipping from his grip and being snatched up by the Ravenclaw team below. James never allowed himself to lose focus, he'd always thought that Quidditch was his _life. _But it had taken that exact moment for him to realise how wrong he had been all those past years. It wasn't Quidditch that he loved more than anything – it was Lily. He kissed her back ravenously, ignoring the burning pain from his still sore chest, listening to nothing but the sound of his heart pounding in his chest, the sound of Lily's harsh breathing, and the rushing in his head from the sudden overwhelming passion and lusting. Her lips were the softest he had ever felt, smooth and perfect, fitting with his as though they were made for one another. This was worth the years of torturous wait he had had to endure; this would have been worth _hundreds _of years of wait. It was everything that James had ever wished for and more, she was perfect, better than anything he had ever had. And, for a beginner, she was one brilliant kisser. No, to hell with it, she was one brilliant kisser period.

Lily kissed him with everything that she had, the whole room seeming to vanish around them, the whole world even, leaving them suspended in each other's arms in an unknown paradise of beauty, love and longing. The feelings rushing through her body were like nothing that she had ever experienced in her life before, lust over throwing her senses, lust for the half-naked boy lying besides her. Sure, she had liked people before, but nothing strong, nothing ever willing her to actually _date. _She'd felt those everyday emotion of want, of butterflies flapping their wings in her stomach when fingers brush, eyes meet, been part of the trial of wishing for something that desire was telling her she wanted, when beneath it all she wasn't sure if she did. But this, this she did want, more than anything. Turning her head to the opposite side, Lily connected their lips again in a strong lock, tugging gently on his bottom lip as they continued to kiss passionately, her leg creeping up the side of his body in a completely non-Lily like manner. What the hell happened to the sensible girl that she used to be, just minutes ago? Passion, that's what happened. Passion mixed with hormones, a testosterone filled boy, and one very empty hospital wing. At least, they _thought _the Hospital Wing was empty.

"Ahem." Lily and James jumped apart as though they had both been cursed, both sets of cheeks turning a bright scarlet as they're wide eyes stared up at the woman ahead of them, feigning innocence. Both seventeen year olds were panting heavily, Lily clamping her hand against her lips in an attempt to hide her deep breaths, and both had stupidly ruffled hair, even more so than they already had been, and – for James Potter – that was most definitely saying something. There, stood less than a metre from the edge of the bed, hands thrust hard against her hips, was Madam Pomfrey. She glared down at them, her eyebrows knitting together in disapproval as she reached for the large bottle in the pocket of her robes, pulling it out and pouring a specific amount for James to consume. "Good morning, Mr Potter," she said, the disapproval spreading now to her tone, yet her gaze warmed as her eyes fell upon him, as though they had grown to be friends, as far as pupils and staff went. Clearly, James had spent a lot of time in the Hospital Wing, and indeed he had. Having a werewolf for a close friend was never going to be safe, risk free. No, he'd spent as many nights in that room as he had anywhere else in the Hogwarts castle. With a tiny nod, James pushed his glasses up his nose, before reaching across Lily's body to take the cup which held the concoction. "Miss Evans," Madam Pomfrey added curtly, in an almost sly tone, the disapproval coming back into both her voice and face as she turned to Lily, who cast her eyes down in embarrassment, her face flushing an even darker shade of red. If she could have summoned a hole up to pull her into the centre of the Earth, she would have done it. Anything to avoid the glares shot down at her. It was made very clear that Madam Pomfrey expected better than that from Lily, the Gryffindor prefect and one of the model students around the whole school. In fact, even Lily would have expected better than herself if she wasn't feeling so guilty. "I think it's time you left," She said pointedly, waving her hand in the direction of James' still healing body. "James needs rest, and you need to get to lessons. No objections." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked back into her office, though she continued to glare at Lily through the half-open blinds.

For a few moments, all James and Lily could do was stare at one another, their pulses still racing from the left over passion, chests still rising and dropping rapidly, and as Lily placed one gentle kiss on his temple, caressing the tender skin there were her soft lips, silently begging him to get better with haste, James felt his heart speed up as though having just received a fatal injection that could bring his heart completely out of his chest. And yet, he already felt like his heart was no longer in his body, but that it now belonged to the beautiful girl in front of him to do with as she pleased. She would keep it safe, after all, she'd kept him safe this long, not leaving his side once since she realised what he truly meant to her. It flashed through her eyes, shimmering across the gorgeous deep green, sadness, anger, worry. She didn't want to leave him, not now and not ever. For the rest of her days all that she wanted was to hold him against her, hear his breaths form to one with hers, press her head against his chest and listen to his heart beat. For _her. _Yet she couldn't help wondering if he felt the same way, if he felt as though his chest was going to explode when their eyes met, if he got shivers with every touch they shared, every brush of their skin. Nodding slowly, she squeezed his hand one last time, removing from it what he was gripping tightly onto. "You promised," he muttered, gazing deep into her eyes as though seeing into her soul itself. "I know," she replied. And she did know, especially as she turned from the injured boy, her heart aching. She knew alright.

* * *

"Oh. My. God."

It was almost as though every single pair of eyes turned to the great oak doors as Lily pushed them open, red curls tangled, pale skin slightly flushed, open lips slightly puffy. Whispers shimmered across the entire Great Hall, everyone stopping what they were doing and turning in her direction, mouths open. Some were smiling, some were glaring, but most were just unbelieving, their mouths lolling. She heard her name, his name, their names intertwined, and as she walked down the aisle, head raised high despite her head telling her this could very well have been the biggest mistake of her life, she half wanted to run straight back out. But now it was too late, people had already seen, people would already be gossiping, already cussing her with their own evil envy. All eyes followed her, brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, even the occasional grey or topaz, yet she met none of them, just walked, walked into what could be her own death. Seeing as the room was full of teenage girls, it could very well have been just that. And then silence, no sound at all apart from the footfalls of her own feet, growing closer and closer to her own saviour, her own safety where eyes would maybe then find somewhere else to rest. A single cough fell from the teacher's table, Dumbledore's vain attempt to create a better atmosphere than the one that had befallen the room, his bright blue eyes twinkling with what could only be described as stars. And all this because of one thing, one tiny little red and gold thing that was barely even that significant. But it _was _significant. Highly so. For there, walking hastily towards the spare gap in the Gryffindor table, was a red haired girl, hair dropping messily down her back and falling just above the large lettering that covered the top half of her back. One word, seven letters, followed by one number in black underneath. Potter.

A hand grabbed her from the table beside her, pulling her down onto the seat with a loud bang that seemed to pull everyone else back into reality, though Lily knew they would all be talking about it, as though someone had just flicked their on switch. She had been stupid enough to go down to breakfast in _James Potter's _Quidditch jersey, the very same one that he had been wearing when he had fallen of his broom almost a full day ago. And yet, she knew that she had to do it, knew that there was no other way. Everyone who knew her would laugh if she tried to tell them exactly what was going on between her and James, would perhaps believe her for a single second before ranting on about how that was a really good joke, and that they never expected that one. But they'd all seen the kiss, they'd all seen her run to his side, had all seen her grip onto him like he was her life support as he was dragged to the Hospital Wing, and none of them had seen her for the rest of the day's lessons. At least her entrance had been grand, and she would no doubt be bombarded with questions, questions that she didn't care to answer now that people knew the truth. She belonged to James Potter, and what better way to show it then wear it emblazoned on her back? Well, there was no better way.

Lily turned to the person besides her, about to cast them a smile and then escape before they could ask anything more of her, but instead her eyes fell upon the bright blue of Quinn Reynalds, who was grinning stupidly at her. "You're an absolute idiot, you know that, right?" She laughed loudly, her dark brown curls dropping gently in front of her face, covering one of her eyes. "I'm now going to have to smuggle you out of here so that you don't get killed, freak-a-zoid." Something about the glimmer in her eyes as she continued to laugh set a grin on Lily's face as she felt a sudden surge of warmth for her best friend, dressed scruffily in her school robes, pulling gently on the bottom of the jersey and turning to stare at the back again. "Potter's my ass. Babe, you belong to no one but Quinn Reynalds!" Winking at her, Quinn pushed the strand of smooth hair back away from her tanned skin, tucking it gently behind her ear, before pointing her finger in Lily's face, a sudden mock serious expression befalling her. "But if I _die _trying to get you out of here, you are no longer my best friend, got it?" Lily just laughed, and then couldn't stop. Nothing was better than the sweet song of happiness and joy; laughter.

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**A/N: **See y'all in ten days! :) Thanks for the reviews/favourites :)


	12. Chapter Twelve: Forever

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not make money writing soppy James/Lily, otherwise I would write a lot more, and of a higher quality.

**DEDICATION: **Okay, so this dedication is a bit of an Author's Note as well. Following up from some of her reviews on this story and some of my others, I can honestly say I became kinda friendly with an author on here, by the name of juliaSwan. I actually cannot tell you how much it meant to me to have a story dedicated in my name, and everything she ever said to me about my writing made me glow with happiness. I recieved a PM from her telling me that she was no longer writing fanfictions, and she sent me her email address. Now, being the bum that it is, FFN decided to block this email address, thus meaning I am no longer able to contact her, as she has cancelled her PM system. So, if you're reading this (as I hope you are), I am so so sorry, I miss your writing, and damn, I'd love to be able to contact you via email. :)

**A/N: **Wow, Amsterdam has really made a mess of my writing. So, lately I haven't really been feeling much passion for TC, and I have my fingers crossed that that's going to improve, because otherwise my writing is going to remain in the slums, and a chore rather than something I do for fun. Tbh, I'm pretty gutted about that, and I find myself writing one shots to make up for it. Tomorrow I am going back to school, boooh. And I'm starting GCSEs, double boo. This means I wont find as much time to write, triple boo. But I promise to do my best to get y'all a new chapter every week, and if I can't, you should be able to get one every other week, because I have told myself that I am going to be a complete Hermione Granger this year, and that will come in the way of my writing, as I will be geeking up. Thank you all for putting up with me thus far, and I hope you keep reading.

I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, but I have a stack of homework that needs doing (stupid RE teachers) and the passion is... not there right now. Expect a few one shots from me though. This chapter was supposed to be funny... it's turned out not funny at all and totally pathetic. Sorry about shortness, but next chapter will make up for it (damn, I said that about this chapter :/ ) HUGS FROM ME, I LOVE YOU ALL.

"**And we'll say things will never be the same this time, the sky will fall down on all of us, let's make a promise to be, let's make a promise to stay this way forever." - Twenty Twenty**

**Chapter Twelve: Forever**

James Potter giggled. Yes, giggled. And he didn't even retain a single ounce of his masculinity, for he giggled loudly and way too high pitched for a boy who still had his testes attached to his body, and had since entered puberty. But still, in the slightly muggy Hospital Ward, his ringing laughter bounded around the room like a young puppy chasing its new toy in delight and excitement as to what's to come when it is caught. Every set of eyes in the room exchanged almost worried looks, yet their eyes glittered with what could only be amusement, the green meeting the blue and grey, and reflecting back the mixture of colours. Grins spread onto each of the teenagers' faces as they turned back to the sight afore them; James Potter propped up in a small, uncomfortable hospital bed, sheets wrapped around him, hair sticking up in every possible – and impossible – direction, and a stupid grin stretching his cheeks upwards as he rocked from side to side in amusement. Amusement at _what _however, none of them could tell, and perhaps none of them really _wanted _to know. After all, this was Potter, the boy who gets kicks out of stealing underwear and forcing the suits of armour to wear them, who enjoys making the one girl he claims to be in love with go through hell and back in annoyance. Only, now she could never be annoyed by him, not when he was full of charm and love, full of happiness and was so carefree. Well, unless he didn't stop squealing like a girl every second; then she may very well have to kill him with her bare hands, and she was pretty certain that she would take great pleasure in it.

"Uh... James?" Lily Evans mumbled softly, scooting slightly forwards on the squishy armchair that had become her home for the past few days in which she hated to leave his side, in which she would sit every hour, waiting for him to open his eyes, waiting for him to speak her name, sleeping close by his side with her small fingers intertwined with his much larger ones. And she couldn't have been happier, truly, she couldn't. In fact, she couldn't even bring herself to wipe the great big soppy smile off of her face that had refused to leave on its own accord ever since she realised exactly how she felt for him. Oh, boy, did she feel for him, she felt everything that anyone could ever imagine feeling and more, was even surprised by the amount of emotions that she felt for him, never mind the intensity of said emotions, an intensity that felt as though it was burning a hole in her chest every second of every day. Taking his shaky hand in her own, Lily rubbed his fingers gently, her eyes wide as he flopped his head in her direction to gaze right back, his hazel eyes slightly watery from his tears of joy, his laughter. A ghost of innocence shot through his gorgeous, sparkling eyes as they met the bright green of Lily's, and his smile reached them with ease as he once again took in every single detail of her face, her body. In fact, she even _smelt _delicious. Her auburn hair rolling over the grey and red of her Gryffindor jumper as she turned to the two others seated close by, her dark lashes long and fluttering slightly, she bit her full pink lips slightly, nibbling gently on her bottom lip as she searched for a trace of anything in the other two's faces.

A tiny shrug pulled up onto Quinn Reynalds' shoulders as she flicked her dark brown curls to fall down the back of her robes, an almost mischievous glimmer in her bright blue eyes. Crossing her long, never-ending legs over one another, one side of her robes dropping to the hard stone floor and revealing her tanned thighs in all of their enviable glory, a delicate smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at seeing her best friend together with Lily's bane of her whole entire life, her very own worst enemy. And they were holding hands. Even for Quinn, who was seated at the end of the bed in a hard, wooden chair _far _less comfortable than the bright red one that Lily was currently plopped down in, that was possibly the strangest thing that she had ever seen in her life, and she had seen some pretty twisted stuff in her seventeen years. After all, her and Lily had been on the receiving end of the Marauders' pranks for the whole two years that Quinn had been at Hogwarts, and she could only guess what Lily had had to endure even before that. Her grin widened at the thought of her best friend being physically and mentally tortured for every single day of her time at Hogwarts, but was now announcing her love to the one person who had _caused _all of those painful, annoying, yet highly amusing days. Even Lily had to admit, seeing the shining silver suits of armour in anyone else's sexiest, lacy underwear _would _have been amusing... apart from the fact that it wasn't any one else's sexiest lacy underwear, it was hers.

"Baby, what's so funny?" Lily tried a second time, clearing her throat and staring as seriously as she could manage into the eyes that had her heart pounding, her head reeling and her face flushing a beautiful shade of pink that highly clashed with her bright red hair. James simply pointed away from her, his long index finger shaking from the mass of giggles that still had complete control of his body, a body that was encased in nothing more than dark blue boxers and an oversized, thin white short sleeved top, so thin, in fact, that his muscles were clear through the cheap fabric, and as he pointed, the muscles in his arms flexed slightly. It was almost as though he was trying to impress Lily, and he _was_, very much so, because he still believed she was only with him until he was better, would leave him the second he left the Hospital Wing and returned to lessons, to the rest of his friends and to all of his old tricks that seemed to be worsening with time. Take last week, when he tried to set Professor McGonagall and Mrs Norris up. Needless to say, it hadn't quite gone to plan, and James and Sirius were still suffering from the stupid amount of detention they had been rewarded, all because they had spiked a Professor's drink so that she would be stuck in her Animagus form. (Remus Lupin was a _very _clever boy, when he wanted to be, and usually that didn't mean taking part in the terrible twosome's pranks. Sirius still hadn't told him the exact use for the potion, Remus was still believing that he truly was having serious thoughts about staying in his Animagus form – a large black dog – forever.)

Following his finger, Lily's eyes fell into the light grey of Sirius Black's, who was grinning from ear to ear like a foolish school boy who had fallen in love with the girl of his dreams in the middle of a candy store – something that Lily would not be surprised if he had indeed fantasised about such a thing, having the sweet tooth that he did. A light trace of confusion ran across Sirius' face as James' finger pointed specifically at him, his dark black eyebrows pulling together suddenly as the finger moved from his own face onto the girl seated closely beside him, his smile faltering slightly. Another batch of high pitched giggles danced from James' mouth, and Lily rolled her jade eyes as her boyfriend began to roll around playfully on the bed again. Whatever Madam Pomfrey had given him, Lily was certain, _she _could do with some of that. "Lils, Lils, Lils," James gasped between laughs, clutching his chest tightly, and yet still somehow managing to nudge her with each word he spoke, repeating her name over and over as though attempting to annoy her further. Turning to face her, his eyes glowed with the warmth that his smile provided, and Lily felt her heart melt into a single messy gloop of love for the goofy boy in front of her eyes. "They're shagging!" He suddenly proclaimed, his giggling taking on a whole new level as he deemed that he himself was all knowing, even when it came to Quinn and Sirius' 'relationship'. Again, she rolled her eyes, squeezing James' warm hand tightly as though he was some kind of mental patient who she worried sorely for. Then again, perhaps he was, he _was _James Potter.

"Sure, James. What ever you say," Lily replied, as Sirius began to cough into his hand, as though stifling giggles of his own. Until he received a killer look off Quinn that caused his eyes to widen and his laughter to stop abruptly. Lily just raised her eyebrows, not sure whether to be amused by everything going on around her or concerned. She was Lily Evans, the Prefect who had never taken an interest in boys, who usually saw them as a waste of space and a pathetic excuse at life. Never once had she thought of boys as, well... _funny. _"Lily... you know they're getting rumpity humpity?" James continued, a serious expression pulling onto his face as he tugged at her hand, staring deep into her soul and causing her heart to flutter. Rumpity humpity? Well, that was a new one even for James, and she smirked a little at his wording. Since when did Lily Evans _smirk? _She really was changing more than she ever thought possible, and all because her heart was slowly becoming less hers and more and more the boy lying on the bed beside her, his dark eyelashes framing his breathtaking eyes that she could feel herself being tugged into, like he was her world and his gravitational pull was all that she would ever need from that moment on. "Do you reckon we could, y'know?" He winked at her, a grin pulling high up onto his cheeks, almost stretching right up to the frames of his round glasses. And all he received was a hard slap against his arm, a red welt appearing within the first scrape of pale skin against his own, as his mouth dropped in shock. Giggles swam to Lily's ears from the corner of the room, and she realised that that kind of laughter clearly only ran in the Marauders as she frowned at James, shooting daggers at him from her moss coloured eyes that shimmered with the flames of a thousand fires.

God, did James love her angry. He loved the way her red hair seemed to fizzle gently with her own anger, how the curls seemed to come to life as her emotions worsened. Her eyes would get a certain glow that he was so used to seeing in them, a glow that he thought even more beautifully displayed the passion that he knew was hiding deep within her, begging to get out of her system. A goody goody could only be good for a certain amount of time, and it was about time she got _bad. _Real bad. "What?" He asked, mock outrage on his face, rubbing his arm with a pout on his lips in an attempt to make her feel sorry for him, feel worried about his well being. By the narrowing of her eyes, sorry was the last thing on her mind. In fact, she looked like she wanted to kill him, shooting him a look that spoke fierce words and the single statement 'you _know _what'. But he was James Potter, he had spent his whole life at Hogwarts picking on the one girl who his heart had gone out to... in fear of falling deeply and madly in love with her? Perhaps, but James believed that it was so he could glimpse the ferocity in her eyes every time she caught sight of him. Maybe now it was time to turn that ferocity into a different kind of passion. Silence hung around the Hospital Wing, even from Sirius, who was biting into his fist so as to keep his laughter bottled up inside, and James was surprised that he actually bothered, considering he was _Sirius Black. _That was, until he caught the look on Quinn's face, glaring thoroughly across at the long haired boy from the corner of her blue eyes, her eyebrows raised, and a general air of annoyance plastered onto her otherwise stunning face. Not James' type, but stunning none the less – he wasn't surprised Sirius was banging her every chance he got. Not that he really believed what he had earlier said, just that he wouldn't put it past his best friend for a single second. Quinn, on the other hand, always glared at him with enough hatred to keep the whole world in an eternal war.

Turning back to face the gorgeous, petite red head, her arms folded tight against her body and a rather disgruntled look on her face, James tried a more gentle approach. "Lily," he near whispered, the single murmer of her name sending shivers down her spine that she couldn't stop, making every inch of her body tingle with warmth and love. Her eyebrows pulled apart slowly as she also pulled back from her state of anger, her eyes softening and turning from the dark, almost black, colour that they had been just moments before into a brighter, more gentle, green. Eyes flicking up to his own, he recognised the love in them once more. "Mmm?" She asked, her lips opening a little as she took his hand in hers once more, awaiting his reply anxiously, forgetting temporarily that Quinn and Sirius were in the room with them, forgetting everything but the boy before her eyes. Damn, she hated how she couldn't hold a grudge against him any more, not when her heart burned so strongly for him. "You have really nice tits," he finished, a smug look on his no longer serious face, laughter swelling up from both Sirius and Quinn as Lily's face turned a bright red, and becoming competition for her burning hair. "I hate you, James Potter," she muttered, a sparkle lighting up her eyes. He replied, giggling, and swinging an arm over her shoulder, pulling her against his chest, into which she pouted gorgeously. "I love you too, Lily flower."

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**A/N: **What did you think? Was it really as bad as I thought? :S


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Defying Gravity

**DISCLAIMER: **James Potter, though sexy as hell, does not belong to me. I just give him broomsticks and hope flies, give him Lily and hope he flirts, give him a story and hope he'll come back to me. ;)

**DEDICATION:** HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLUM HOSIE! HAPPY HAPPY FIFTEENTH! I'm sorry that this is uploaded two days late, I did the best that I could, but this one's for you, hope you like it, even if I cut it a bit shorter than I first planned. ENJOY.

**A/N: **Eee, it's been so long since I last updated, and, let's face it, Chapter 12 was a let down. Hopefully, you wont think the same about this one. Tell me what you think, and thank you billions for sticking with me through the not-so-snazzy chapters - ON TO BETTER CHAPTERS FULL OF BETTER HAPPINESS. Okay, so I was reading all of your reviews, and I took them into account. So, Peace-bookluva, these shortened paragraphs are for you, (I see what you mean tbh, I'm a drag, and will be editing the other chapters into the same format, so thankyou) and BlueSkies13, I see what you mean about more dialogue, so this load of speech is for you! I hope you two prefer the changes, and please review to tell me what you thought of it this way :) Thankyou for your honest advice.

"**Something has changed within me, something is not the same, I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep, it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap. It's time to try defying gravity, I think I'll try defying gravity, kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity, and you wont bring me down. " **- Wicked

**Chapter Thirteen: Defying Gravity**

"What the..?"

James' voice was cut off by a sharp voice that seemed ten times closer in the secluded dark of nothingness. Nothing. That was exactly what he could see in the pitch black of the area into which he had just been shoved by a long haired certain someone. Surprisingly, it hadn't been his girlfriend. No, James would have spotted her bright red hair a mile off, this person had much darker hair, and it was a hell of a lot more tamed. But who ever it was had definitely succeeded at confusing the ass off of him, and had also packed a pretty good rugby tackle at that – though it was pretty creepy how he could feel her hot breath against his neck. One thing was certain; this would not look good, and most definitely would not _be _good.

"James Potter, will you please move your godforsaken and obtusely large foot from atop my own?" Whoever it was - in what could only be a broom cupboard - with him sounded extremely annoyed as she whispered firmly into his face, and James felt his heart rate slow suddenly, followed by a large exhale of the breaths he had been unaware he was holding. The girl who had shoved him into such a tight space wasn't about to kiss him or make any kind of move on him, and he couldn't be more thankful. He wasn't old James any more, wasn't the boy who would whore around with anyone as long as Lily found out about said experiences, in a vain attempt to get her jealousy rising, and the green eyed monster to pay her a long overdue visit. If it wasn't for a single Lonely Hearts advert, he was pretty certain this would be just another of those girls, the girls who just wanted to popularity of dating the Hogwarts' star Quidditch player.

"Sorry," he mumbled, not sorry in the slightest but feeling it at least courteous to pretend that he was. Perhaps if he hadn't have just been _shoved into a broom cupboard _he truly would have been sorry, but apologies didn't come that easy in the present situation. Quickly, he moved his foot, reaching to extract his wand from whichever one of his many pockets it was currently situated in. You'd have thought, being the prankster and general trouble maker that he was, that he would at least know where his _wand _was? Clearly not, and a frown pulled onto his face at the sound of a quick clearing of a throat.

"Lumos," the voice in the darkness muttered softly, her tone as far away from the anger of her earlier outburst as sanely possible. The spell lit up the space – or lack of – with a bright glow that left James blinking repeatedly to help his eyes adjust. There she was afore him, bent over slightly in the crammed space, trying her uttermost hardest not to touch a single part of his stupidly close body and rubbing her foot fiercely, wand in hand. Dark brown locks of straightened hair fell long in front of her narrowed blue eyes as she glared down at her foot in disdain, before eventually looking up at him and muttering three words: "You absolute dykeopath."

James snorted. Quinn freaking Reynalds had shoved him into a cupboard and _she_ was the one calling _him _the psychopath, or whatever it was she'd said that was equally insulting. You never knew with that girl, she had the beauty of an angel but the mouth of the devil himself, and she couldn't _half_ cuss. "Hang on a minute, _you _pushed _me _into this... place, if I remember correctly," James retorted, also glaring down at the girl before him. Indeed, he was in a cupboard, and at that exact moment, a broomstick toppled off a shelf and landed against his side with a clatter. Beautiful. "And I hope you don't mind, but if you have no reason for this assault, I shall be leaving pronto," he finished, pointing his thumb to the door that was the only thing between the two and the busy corridor outside, and towards which he was moving.

"Potter, if you dare even _attempt _to open that door, I will break every bone in your body. I'd like to see you catch a snitch then, let alone Lily's heart." She smiled, her eyes glittering with the malice that her words had held, despite her calm and hushed tone towards him. Sure enough, she pointed her wand towards his retreating back, practically poking it into his body with the lack of room between them. "Now don't be an arse."

Turning around to face her again, James cocked one genuinely curious eyebrow as he surveyed her face. Long, light eyelashes surrounded her piercing blue eyes that shot him with a look so icy that it matched their cool colour. Alike his own expression, she also had one perfectly trimmed eyebrow raised above the other, her lightly glossed lips glimmering in the pulsating light coming from the fragile stick with silver vines carved up the handle. Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, James laughed, causing a real smile to crawl onto Quinn's lips. How could she hate her best friend's boyfriend, after all? She was too connected to him through others to _hate_ him, and it would just mess things up with Lily. A strong _dislike _would do.

"So, Reynalds. To what do I owe this pleasure?" James questioned, dropping his hands back to his side and stuffing them into his trouser pockets as he leant back against the wall behind him. Nothing about being trapped in this cupboard with – arguably – one of the most attractive girls in school excited him at all. Not even the way her skirt was hitched up to her mid thighs in a way that he knew would cause Sirius to wink multiple times. Then again, Sirius Black's only brain resided below the waistband of his tightly fitting trousers.

Pulling an almost disgruntled face, Quinn stuck out her tongue slightly, playfully. "Don't sound too happy. I'd much rather you were someone worth shagging too," she close to growled, blushing at the last few words, words that she clearly hadn't meant to voice. If he hadn't been too focused on pressing his back against the wall to stay away from her threatening glare, James would have narrowed his eyes back in thought, before teasing her about the words that were never meant to pass her lips.

Quinn's eyes sparkled past her narrowed eyelids, a light fire burning within them. Straightening up to her full height, her eyes were almost exactly opposite his own. Her mouth opened a little, and her eyes searched his face for a few moments, his features possessing an odd white glow due to the charm being exerted from her wand. He only blinked back at her, reeling from the bright light being forced into his face. "Whatever game you're playing with Lily, it's going to stop."

Truth be told, James had never been more surprised in his whole entire life, even including the day that Lily had announced her love for him – then again, he had been _passed out_ for most of said day. Nothing about Quinn's last statement, thrown at him with such a powerful punch, made an ounce of sense. Did she reallythink that it was a _game _to him? In a sense, James was disgusted; disgusted that Lily's _best friend _didn't believe that he could really be in love. That was, until he realised who he was.

He was James Potter, almost as reckless in love as Sirius Black, almost as thoughtless towards his girls as any other jackass of a boy. Why? Because there had only ever been one girl for him, and there only ever would be. And _that _was what Quinn knew; _that _was what she had against him. Quinn Reynalds loved her best friend more than anything in the world, and she was going to prove that, was going to protect her against any kind of threat. She always had done, had always been protective ever since she had transferred to Hogwarts. As to why, only two people would ever know, herself included.

"Quinn," James sighed, dropping her last name basis and instead using her first, to show that he really did care enough for Lily to put their differences aside. Not that he _really _hated her, just that he had never truly forgiven her for cursing him at their very first meeting, and thus embarrassing him in front of Lily herself. But that was two years ago, and now it was time to forgive and forget. "I'm in love with her. How the _hell _can't you tell that? How can't you see that every time I look at her, I know that I'll never want anything else in my whole life?"

It wasn't the words that got to Quinn; it was the passion that hit her with them, the flames blazing in his eyes, and the way that, despite the fire burning up in them, his hazel eyes still began to water. James Potter was crying, and that was the one thing that Quinn Reynalds would never forget for as long as she lived. It was also the one thing that she couldn't deal with. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she lowered her wand in an almost offering of peace. She would never say the words as such, was far too stubborn to even_ think_ them, but her face silently wrote them; you win.

James laughed, blinking back the water in his eyes as Quinn averted her gaze down to her feet, feeling completely stupid. He reached out to her and placed one large hand on her shoulder, causing her to look once more up at him, at his equally as stupid grin. He would've hugged her if they hadn't been too close for comfort already.

"Hey, next time you want to talk to me, don't shove me in a cupboard, yeah?" She could hear the grin in his voice, and found herself smiling slowly back, her glossy lips rising up her cheeks as she answered back to him in the darkness. "Didn't you hear? I used to be a Slytherin. I tackle well." And she winked, too. "Just don't go putting Lily in the Hospital Wing with a broken heart. She deserves better than that," Quinn continued, more seriously. In reply, James nodded.

If only they'd have known.

* * *

Hair tousled and windswept, a few remaining drops of cool water settled in them from earlier showers, number three – broom still firmly in hand - made his way across the muddy Quidditch pitch towards the abandoned stands. Abandoned apart from the girl that held his heart in a cradle, bright red hair waving in his direction from the light swirl of air that haunted the dark night. Even the sight of her set a grin onto James' face as he pulled on the bottom of his new, clean Quidditch jersey, the number three emblazoned in gold across his back, yet another layer on top of his day's clothes, an effort to keep the wind out of his pores.

The cold stung him bitterly as he crept closer to the stands, and all of the previous warmth that he had gained from his shower was quickly slipping away, being replaced instead by the freezing feeling of nothingness. Soon, he wouldn't even be able to feel his fingers. He just hoped that she would have prepared better, that she would at least have had the sense to wear a cloak, perhaps even her school one emblazoned with the very same red and gold colour that he himself was sporting. That way, they'd match. That way, they'd be more than perfect together.

Clutched in his other hand was a single note, a single ripped piece of yellowing parchment with a few sentences scrawled across it with the black ink held by a feathered quill. Against the night air, James gripped in into his fist even harder, gritting his teeth slightly. He wasn't one who usually wimped out at the slightest dropping of temperatures, but tonight he wasn't worried for himself, tonight he was worrying for his girl. Looking down to the paper in his hand, his hazel eyes flicked across it swiftly, and his smile grew.

_9pm, Quidditch Stands._

_Don't be late._

_I think you know who I am by now._

Trust his gorgeous girlfriend to remember the way that they had begun to love one another, and incorporate that into their present state. That was her through and through, one hundred percent. She took the smallest details and made them into something worth remembering. Even those tiny little things added up to make one big bundle of love for her, and it was almost as though he could no longer hate anything about her – but then again, when had he _ever_ hated anything about her?

Working his way slowly up the creaky wooden stairs to where she waited for him, huddled up in the cloak that she had indeed brought, James Potter tried his hardest to not make a single noise in the close to silent night. Above their heads, the inky blue of the winter's night sky was riddled with beautiful twinkling stars, all shining down onto the two young lovers. The moon was the brightest of all in the sky, casting it's milky shine down from the heavens above, as though angels themselves were controlling it. It was a glowing globe in the sky, the one light that never diminished even when all others fell into darkness.

"Lillian Evans." The whisper hit the back of her ear with a soft blow of cool air, sending gentle shivers down her back as the girl in question turned at the sound of the voice, her red curls bobbing lightly as she did so. Bright green eyes met the smooth hazel of those gazing longingly down at her, and she found herself slowly scrunching up her nose at the look of pure adoration plastered all over his stupidly handsome face as he stared deep into her soul. Fake disgust riddled her faintly freckled face, her eyebrows pulling together into a tiny frown that settled on her pale forehead. And yet her smile remained on her lips, the smile that had found its way there as soon as his slightly husky voice had hit her eardrums.

It was those very lips that came into contact with another pair just moments later, the sudden closing of the gaps between the two taking her fully by surprise, barely giving her time to shut her eyes before the smooth lips pressed gently against her own for a split second. He pulled away from her once more, grinning at how easily he had rid her pretty little face of such a disgusted expression, for now she was blinking rapidly, and she eventually pouted teasingly back at him. "Did you not know that it's rude to kiss a girl who is quite clearly tied up with a very amazing boy?" Lily mocked, pressing her hands against her hips and staring over at the boy in front of her. Or rather, up, for he wasn't nearly as short as she herself was. "If you weren't as insanely attractive, I would very well have to hex you, right here, on this exact spot," she continued, her tone light as her eyes roamed over the well built body in front of her.

James really _was_ gorgeous. Strands of jet black hair flopped messily over his tanned face, hazel eyes simmered like molten magma as they looked right back into her own, and his lips curled up into a playful smile, despite her constant teasing. Especially dressed in his large red Quidditch top, the only one of his that hugged his muscles to perfection, he looked utterly and absolutely...wow.

"And to which undeserving boy does a beauty such as yourself belong?" James replied, his soft eyes glimmering as he took one large step towards the dainty girl whose hands remained firmly planted upon her glorious curves. Before she could stop him, he wrapped his arms around her thin, cloaked waist, pulling her close to his own body, her chest against his. He even dropped his lips to lay the present of a single warm kiss upon her forehead, his lips feeling as though they were burning into her mind. Her cheeks themselves began to sizzle into a faint pink tint, the blush causing a glow of delight to radiate out from under her skin.

"Well, it couldn't at _all _be a Mr. James Potter, but if you do happen to see him, tell him he owes me a _huge _kiss!" Lily held back the giggle that was tickling her light pink smile, instead curling her arms around the back of the boy's neck, pulling him slowly down to her as she stood high on her tiptoes. She smiled gently into his lips as they collided in a flurry of longing, the beats of their hearts seemingly becoming one in the dance of love that their lips had already gained the rhythm to.

After a few moments, Lily pulled back from his eager kiss, his lips yearning for more and more of her heavenly taste, more of her delicious scent. With one sly wink, she abruptly hastened to hide her seconds of fluster, forcing the rosy tint from her cheeks and instead replacing it with a mischievous grin, the purely innocent smile of happiness having long left her lips. The words spilled cheekily from her mouth, an almost sexy air hanging over them as she played teasingly with him in such a manner that he loved more than any other part of her. But damn, she was a tease. "That'll do, Mr Potter. That'll do."

As a single curl fell before her bright green eyes that were glittering in amusement, James grinned back at her, a stirring sensation in his stomach and butterflies beating their wings in an endless attempt for escape. Yet James didn't want an escape from Lily, wanted nothing more than to keep her his forever. _Forever._ If only. But right now, he loved his girlfriend with all his thankful heart, loved the way she continued to play these silly games with him, how he never knew when another one would pop up. The whole fun to them? The mystery. The longing that he felt that grew from the mockery of a longing he was supposed to be feeling due to her 'charm'. Truth be told, it made him smile himself stupid, and he'd been asked on more than one occasion what his crazy grin was in reference to. She was his princess.

He ran his hand through his mess of jet black hair. Laughing affectionately, she rolled her eyes at his gesture, sticking her tongue out of her mouth for a single second. "Your boyfriend sure is one hell of a lucky guy," James whispered across to her, his voice low and gentle, playing along with her. In reply, she nodded her head slowly, her green eyes never leaving his own and the fiery hair bobbing up and down at her slight movement. "He knows it," she almost whispered back, her lips brushing together and apart softly as the words swam across the space between them to his ears, like the music that he would never grow sick of, the music that kept oxygen in his lungs and a stutter in his heart.

Staring down at her alluring face, he pulled her tight against him, her own warmth radiating out to him from beneath her dark black cloak. And it was that moment that she caught sight of the broom by his side, the same broom that he had dropped when he had taken to wrapping her up in his protective hold. Automatically, her face changed right from happiness and teasing, straight to a fake glare, passing through fear as it went.

Lily Evans was afraid of flying. Everyone knew it, it was a well known fact around Hogwarts, but as her eyes noticed his Comet 380, James grinned even more at the look of sheer terror on her face, her already pale skin turning a deathly white colour, and her eyes widening before quickly dropping into a glare. "James Potter, I am _not _riding your broomstick!' She whispered fiercely, not daring to speak any louder in case they were heard. Though who she thought would hear them this far from the castle was a complete mystery.

James only laughed, the sounds of happiness ringing around the pitch and making the night seem even more beautiful. But nothing would ever be as beautiful in his eyes as the girl before him, her bright red hair reflecting the glow of the brightest stars, her pale lips pulling up into a grin as she noticed him wink down at her. That was James and his sexual innuendo for you, something that couldn't stop you from grinning, and the occasional giggle from slipping your lips.

"Actually... yes, yes you are." Before Lily had even noticed the words leave James' lips, his arm was already pulling her tight around her waist, wrapping her own arm around himself and throwing her gently onto the polished Comet 380, ignoring her struggles that he easily brushed off. She was Lily Evans, small, beautiful and completely fragile. She was almost ten times weaker than her boyfriend, and as he settled her down atop the broom, one leg either side and her hands wrapped around his back as though he was the one thing that kept her alive, she barely even noticed it happening, it was over so fast. And then they were flying.

High in the air, and gaining height with each second that passed, Lily buried her head in the soft material of James' Quidditch jersey, her eyes clamped tightly shut, her mind screaming at her to ignore the harsh wind battering her hair from side to side. Fingers tangling tight into the front of James' top, she bit her lip and began to mumble softly into James' body, words that made little sense to anyone other than her. James could only make out one sentence, one sentence that made a grin curl up his lips as he turned to look back at the clearly petrified girl; "I hate you, Potter."

"You love me really," James shouted above the wind, leaning around as far as he could to place one light kiss above Lily's head, her red hair threatening to whip him senseless as he did so. In that moment, he had the two things that he loved the most – and both were his. The girl of his dreams was clinging to him as he felt the wind in his hair, pressing against his face, felt the true magic of defying gravity. James couldn't work out if it was because she was too afraid or too stubborn that stopped her from lifting her beautiful face from his shoulders.

"Mnf." The non-committal sound was quickly followed by Lily raising her head ever so slightly, her eyes returning slowly to their normal size as they settled upon the one face that seemed to be her light in the darkest of days, the oxygen to keep her breathing, and her favourite sight of all. Sure, she loved the way his already messy hair grew more windswept by the moment, loved the way that he looked at her with adoration, the way that- "James, look out!" Lily, wide eyed, shouted with an almost blood-curdling shriek, a shriek that caused James to spin around quickly, sending the broomstick into a quick dive that sent Lily back into the safety of his clothing, her eyes clamped more tightly shut than ever.

A tree. A freaking tree! Of all the things for James Potter to almost fly into, a tree had to be the one. Not something awesome like the three golden goal posts that he could have at least impressed Lily with by spinning through the circular opening in a spectacular movement, not even the house colours of the Hogwarts' stands, but a _tree_! As he pulled out of the dive and span the broom to face back in the direction that they had already travelled from, James swore with all of his mind that he would never again presume he was flying high enough, not when he could lose his most prized possession if he got it wrong.

He slowed the broom, his skin feeling as though it was going to permanently have marks in it from where the redhead seated behind him was digging her fingers into his skin, and one quick glance behind him told him that she wouldn't be removing them, or her head, for a long time. James could have kicked himself, he really could have. Way to go Potter, make the girl afraid of flying lose all of her trust in you.

James turned his full body around, so that he was facing the scared seventeen year old, wrapping her up in his protective grasp and holding her tightly against his chest. No words were needed, no explanation of want and of fear; he just knew, just knew that right now, she needed to feel him save her, that she needed to know nothing could ever get her again. She was safe, and she was silent.

Minutes past, one, two, three. Nothing stung James more than the guilt, not even the bitter cold that was determined to consume his very being before the night was through. Biting his lips, he ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he rested his chin on the top of her head, thinking it best not to rock her back and forth when they were sat so precariously on the broomstick. As he felt her body quake against his, from what he could only imagine where her sobs, he hated himself. "Lils?" He mumbled, stroking her long curls that twisted in the breeze. "Lily, I am so, _so _sorry," he continued, words themselves not enough to display his anger at himself. He really would have understood if she never spoke to him again in her whole life, if she never even looked in his way, if she never even thought his name.

Lily mumbled something, so quietly that James strained his ears to hear her. "Hm?" He questioned, his lips pressed to the top of her fiery red hair and his hands on the small of her back. Still, she hid her face, buried it inside James' chest to be completely truthful. "I said; jackass," she repeated, raising her eyes as she did so and shooting him an absolute death stare from their glittering green depths. But she was smiling, and it was that exact second that he realised that she hadn't been crying, she had been... laughing? He could hardly believe it, and the knife that was stuck in his windpipe was suddenly released, a smile forming on his own lips. He had just almost hurt her, and yet she was sat there _laughing _at him. Damn, she must really have loved him.

What came even more unexpected to James was how she leant forwards on the broom, pulling his face quickly down to hers and crushing her lips to his in a sudden wave of passion, a wave of passion that only she knew the origin of. She was _not _going to die unhappy, without having the boy that she loved. With more force than James knew Lily could ever possess, she kissed him fiercely, fingers entwining in his jet black hair and pressing him even harder against her. Taken over by surprise, James Potter thought only two things. One – he was a _very _lucky man. And two – Lily Evans could be just as hot as her hair suggested, if she put her prudish mind to it.

Running the hand up her back and sending shivers delicately down her spine, he entangled one hand in her own hair, twisting the curls around his fingers, whilst the other remained at the base of her tingling spine, pulling her hard against him, the heat between the two seventeen year olds growing to such an intensity that the broomstick bumped to the ground suddenly, causing each teenager to smile into the other's kiss. Too much, too soon, and James knew he had to get Lily away from that Quidditch pitch as soon as his body would allow, and his body was screaming at him to do just that.

He hated pulling away from the kiss, but as he did, reluctantly, he grabbed hold of Lily's hand and gazed hazily into her eyes that sparkled with the very same passion as he knew would be in his own. Hair ruffled, skirt crumpled, skin tinted a light pink, James had never seen her as beautiful as she was in that moment. It was almost as though she never seemed to stop being gorgeous, and was able to dazzle him easier and easier each day. If it wasn't for his severe need to get her somewhere else from where they now stood on the hard Quidditch pitch, he could have stared at her for hours. But he didn't have hours, he needed her now.

"Let's take this somewhere more private," he murmured to her, half expecting her to slap him around the face and storm off, her perfectly formed arse swaying as she did. But she nodded, biting her lips slightly as she squeezed his hand in reply, allowing him to pull her off back towards the castle, no longer caring for his prized broom that lay in the mud.

In the darkness of the trees, a single shadow stepped out, a grimace on its face and a plan too terrible to even think about brewing beneath its depths. If only...

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, so today I found out that I am _terrible _at writing about flying, yuck, I won't be doing much more of that too soon, hahaa. Thank you for reading, feel free to drop me a message/review with any suggestions/ideas/thoughts, anything helps :)


	14. Chapter Fourteen: I Wanna

**DISCLAIMER: **Unfortunately, due to copyright laws, I do not own Siriusly Sexy Sirius, James 'Hotter' Potter, Lily 'Heavens!' Evans, or any other characters from the imagination of JKR. Same goes for places, and some words. I do, however, own Quinn Genevieve Reynalds. :)

**DEDICATION: **This one is for you, for sticking with me thus far. Oh, and for Katie, because she is amazing. Thanks to Nikki for betaing the last few chapters, because I have lost all confidence in my writing atm, love you all.

**A/N: **Ew, how long has it been since I last updated? I'm sorry, I've just been losing my flare lately and not wanting to write at all. I had to get this chapter done though, purely because I couldn't keep it bottled up inside me forever, and it was kinda obvious, haahaa. Also, I hated chapter.. 12 (?) so much, (The hospital scene one) that I'm thinking of just deleting it? Tell me what you think via review or inbox. :) A little bit of a warning, this chapter is more mature than other - not ludicrously, but there's more sexual innuendo. From this chapter on, things get a little interesting, to say the least. So, read on, enjoy, and tell me what you think.

"**I wanna, I wanna, I wanna touch you, you wanna touch me too, everyday but all I have is time, our love's the perfect crime. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna touch you, you wanna touch me too, every way and when they set me free, just put your hands on me. " - The All-American Rejects**

**Chapter Fourteen: I Wanna**

James tugged urgently on Lily's hand, pulling her quickly up the spiraling stone staircase that lead to the Gryffindor dormitories. Looking back at her, he noticed her eyes widen at the wonder of what was soon to come her way. Almond shaped and entrancing, they sparkled a deep emerald in the dim glow from the candles that were bolted to the castle walls, and James was forced to slow in fear of causing her to trip over the hem of her long, dark cloak. He shot her a smile, eager to wipe the look of nervousness from her pretty little face and instead replace it with an emotion of a complete opposite nature; longing.

Apprehensively, she smiled slowly back. She was petrified, of _course _she was, but there was nothing in the whole world – wizarding or Muggle – that she wanted even relatively as much at that precise moment; not eternal happiness, not the power to preform every spell in wizarding knowledge, not even perfect N.E.W.T grades. All Lily wanted was to get the boy that she had so suddenly fallen in love with, and finally give every part of herself to him. That way, she really could be his forever. There was nothing else to it.

At the top of the stairs, the redhead pushed James hard against the wall behind his back, slamming her lips against his own hungrily in an attempt to push the fear away from her mind, in an attempt to not worry about the pain such an act could cause, not worry about the never ending list of consequences that kept building up in her mind.

Lily's personality alteration would never cease to surprise herself tonight, but she would also never cease to worry about every little thing - every single exam, every single sheet of homework, and every single kiss. She would look for answers to things that had never even asked her questions, would perhaps even search the whole world wide for said answers. But tonight was the night, the night when, no matter what happened, she would never be able to take it back, and time was ticking away.

Seventeen years old and still a virgin. If she hadn't have had her lips crushed against the boy beneath her grasp, Lily would have blushed at the very thought, not sure whether to be proud of the fact or even more nervous. The prissy little virgin girl hooks up with the legend-of-a-lay that is James Potter. Well, wasn't that just snazzy? It could be worse, at least it wasn't Sirius Black.

Pulling back from the tight embrace, Lily sighed as silently as she could, aware that being caught could lead to nothing less than expulsion. Even being Gryffindor prefect and a total goody-two-shoes wouldn't help her out much if she was spotted getting hot and heavy just outside the door to her boyfriend's dorm, and that in itself would make her seem like nothing less than the tramp that she never would - and never could - be. James was the only one for her; he was the only one who deserved her, and she couldn't ask for anyone better... could she?

"Lily..." James began to sigh, running his tongue over his lips slightly as he pulled the girl back against him, his hands either side of her waist. All he received was a silencing look from the girl in question, who swooped down to capture his lips once more, loving nothing more than the feeling of being in control, of knowing what she wanted. At least, it _felt_ that way.

Yet James didn't return the over-eager kiss, instead slowing down the speed of her lips into something much softer, more gentle. He loved her, and right now, she needed to know that. She needed to know that he would be happy with her decision, no matter what it was. He could wait for her forever, and he happily would, just to call her his own. Kissing her gently was his way of wearing his heart on his sleeve, and Lily couldn't stop herself from grinning. He was perfect.

"James," she replied, her voice a little hoarse from the excess amount of kissing and passion running between the two hormone ridden teenagers. "I want this. It _has_ to be you." She was speaking the question that he wasn't fast enough to ask her, having known that it was on his mind from the beginning, ever since they'd stepped through the common room and avoided the evidently interested gazes from the Marauders who had been seated around the fire. It was almost as though the Marauders had known. Perhaps they had. Or perhaps it was just fate; luck. Whatever it was, they sure as hell knew not to head up to the dorm for at least another hour. "I love you."

Nodding his head, ruffled hair sticking up from the hands that had been repeatedly raked through it, James once more took Lily by the hand, placing a tiny kiss against her soft, glowing lips, eager to taste every inch of her, learn every curve off by heart. It was all his dreams in a big bundle, and it was all happening at once. The moment that he smiled down at her, warmth and love set on his face, Lily knew that he really _was _the one.

He pushed open the door, sealing Lily's lips in his own yet again, hating the feeling of being separate from her for more than a single, heartbreaking second. Without her, he felt lost, without her, he felt like he would never be happy again. But _with_ her was something completely different, something completely new. He liked new, the feeling of kissing Lily's lips. That was, he liked it until he looked past her, into the room behind him.

"Holy crap!" Lily span quickly around at the sound of James' cussing, her lips remaining in a pout and her hand still firmly clasped in his own larger one, their hold tight from the mix of emotions the two young lovers felt. Lily's mouth dropped with an audible clunk, a sudden silence overthrowing her, and she truly felt as though her eyes were burning from the sight in front of her. That was, if she hadn't felt as though she could pass out from shock any minute. Shock, or horror, whichever was unclear.

They forgot about one Marauder.

There, in Sirius Black's bed, the covers pushed just a little down from the pillows, was the shaggy haired boy himself. And he wasn't alone.

Strewn across him, the curve of her back pointing in the direction of the new comers, was a slim brunette girl, wearing nothing but a musky lilac coloured silk bra, the straps of which were covered by her mass of chocolate curls that were currently the residency of Sirius' hands.

It was only then that the squeals came, the high pitched noise shooting itself from Lily's puffy lips as she buried her face into James' chest, clamping her bitten nailed hands over her ears to prevent her already damaged brain from further damage, moans and gasps included. James' arms dropped around her, and he stared wide mouthed at the scene before him, Sirius' face finally appearing around the side of the almost fully naked body atop him, a guilty grin on his face that screamed 'you got me'. But James had walked in on such an embarrassing situation before, right? Why was this one so different? Because he was with Lily? Because he had wanted the room for himself? No, it was none of that...

It was the girl that he had wrapped around his waist, and perhaps even his little finger, for he had a knack for that, being the Gryffindor playboy. Biting her glossy lips in fear, one strand of brown hair slipping in front of her face in shame, Quinn Reynalds stared straight back up at James through her startling blue eyes, eyes that she quickly cast down in embarrassment. After all, what could she do? If she was to leave the bed now, she would have to show James more of her body than she had ever planned on. But things that she never planned tended to have a habit of happening in the end. Like how she'd told herself she would never date a sleaze like Sirius Black. If you could really call it dating.

As usual, it was Sirius himself that broke the silence, his voice cutting it straight down the middle. "Oops."

Oops indeed, as Lily glanced around at that moment and caught sight of her best friend's guilt stricken face, their eyes meeting and widening at exactly the same second. That was the one thing Lily _hadn't _noticed, exactly who it was shagging Sirius. And Quinn was the absolute last person she ever thought would even display any affection towards him, yet alone _sleep with him. _Everyone knew Quinn despised his very presence, right? Wrong, clearly.

"Hey, Lils," Quinn murmured, her voice low and slightly musical despite the situation that she was slap bang in the middle of. Her eyes spoke it all as they roamed Lily's face, while the body that they belonged to quickly pulled on her matching pair of silk pants beneath the covers. At least she had _that _much dignity. Lily just stared, stared, and stared until she felt like her eyes would dry up completely if she didn't look away.

Glancing up at the boy whose arms were still wrapped protectively around her, as though they were trying to shield her from the sight just across the room from her and right before her eyes, Lily silently questioned him, but he just grimaced back down, continuing to stare as though his eyes were drawn to the sight that he clearly found fascinating. To be honest, James was just thinking about what a congratulations Sirius deserved for finally getting himself into her lilac panties, a colour that could even match his own lilac boxers, if he had chosen to keep them on. Still, Quinn Reynalds. _Score. _

"James Potter!" Lily snapped, her eyes narrowing into his as he finally averted them to stare back at her face, a look of fear now riddled upon his own expression at the sight of his girlfriend clearly bubbling up with too many emotions to control, even for a girl. That couldn't be good, not when she was just seconds from exploding and he was _exactly _the target she was aiming for. "Could you _please _stop staring at my best friend's breasts?" It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

"As for you two," she continued, glaring instead at Quinn and Sirius as she searched for a reasonable response. "Put some clothes on!" She tugged James from the room, slamming the door with a bang, no longer wanting to have to face such a sight when she could barely even stand straight from all the emotions pumping through her body. As for James: he just grinned. That's his girl, alright.

* * *

James slung his arm around Lily's tensed shoulders, pulling her from her trance. Seated on the soft, red love-seat in front of the glowing fire, she nibbled on her fingernails delicately, her eyes staring vacantly into the flickering embers. Looking up at the boy beside her, she smiled a ghost of a smile, an expression that held no true emotion to it, just worry and a sense of disbelief that was eating her up on the inside. She slowly pulled up her legs against her chest, leaning into James' completely relaxed body, slouched on the sofa.

They couldn't have looked more opposite; James' fingers repeatedly tapping against the plush arm of the sofa as his other hand rubbing circles into the side of his girlfriend's sleeves, whilst Lily herself sat hunched up against his soft body, a frown on her forehead as she hacked away at her fingers with her teeth, gnawing away at every single pretty little nail. And yet, they matched like no one else ever could, her petite frame moulded perfectly in with his much more muscled, taller, form, almost as though they were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that went side by side, hand in hand.

"Hallelujah!" James suddenly exclaimed at the sight of his best friend swaggering down the stairs with a stupid grin on his face, as though he hadn't just been caught in the act of shagging his best friend's girlfriend's best friend, and mortal enemy... as confusing as that was. His dark jeans were slightly creased, a single hole in the left knee as though he was trying effortlessly to add sex appeal, and his light grey top hugged every one of his abs in a way that made many a girl sigh and Lily roll her eyes.

As Quinn appeared behind him in her Hogwarts robes, her hands ferociously running through her hair as she tried to disentangle it of the state it was in – apparently from Sirius' hands gripping it so – Lily jumped up off the sofa, cocking her head slightly in their direction, a searching look on her face.

"Someone took their time," James muttered at Sirius bounding across to them, dropping carelessly into the armchair opposite the sofa. He glanced up at Quinn, a sly sparkle in his eyes, patting his knees as though motioning for her to sit on them. As if. By the look of disbelief and disgust on Quinn's face, that was the _last _thing she would be doing. Instead, she seated herself on the very edge of the chair's arm, a guilty look on her face as she stared apologetically at Lily. Why, though, she never knew.

Perhaps it was the fact that she had been going behind her best friend's back in dating someone who was completely maybe a little out of bounds, being James' best friend and all. But it wasn't as though Lily _liked _him, right? Or maybe it was just the overall fact that – duh – Quinn Reynalds _hated _Sirius Black, flesh and blood... Obviously not.

"Well, y'know, had to finish up, didn't I?" Sirius replied with a wink, flinging his arm around Quinn's waist and attempting to pull her onto his knees, to which he received a playful slap on his shoulder that was nothing compared to the death stare that she shot out of her blue eyes at him. If looks could kill, both of the Gryffindors would be dead by now, with the look of pure disgust on Lily's face, her eyes blazing as she dropped back down into James' arms, melting into his body and his eyes at the same time, her heart rate slowing from his touch and a sudden sense of calm washing over the burning anger coursing through her veins.

Silence. A whole two minutes of silence, James again tapping his fingers in an almost annoying rhythm whilst holding Lily as close to his warmth as possible, aching to stop the shivers he felt sweeping over her body; Lily glaring across at Sirius with all of the hate that she could muster, her lips forming a thin line on her translucent face; Quinn seated as far from Sirius on the arm as possible, nibbling her lips and trying her damned hardest to catch her best friend's eyes, one long leg crossed over the other, her skirt pulled down to her knees – a length that she wouldn't dare wear it usually – to protect the rest of her dignity that still remained intact. And then there was Sirius, the one boy in the room that pretty much everyone hated at that exact moment, and yet he just slouched down in the soft armchair, the grin still on his face, his hand running circles on the bottom of Quinn's spine as he glanced between James and Lily, alternating between his 'damn, I just pulled' grin, and his huge puppy dog eyes.

Why did everyone hate him? For many reasons. Lily hated the way he was using her best friend as some kind of toy, a toy that he would discard at his first chance and leave broken and misused, James hated the way that he was tearing Lily apart before tying her up in complicated knots and repeated the process again and again, and Quinn just hated every single thing about him – _especially _the fact that he wouldn't get his freaking hand off of her back for one tiny second!

The silence was broken with a quick clearing of a throat, before James forced the words out that he knew he didn't want to know the answer to, yet thought he already did. This was _Sirius Black _they were talking about, he was a user, he had never once been in love, and James doubted that Quinn was any different, as cocky and confident as she came over. "Are you two serious?"

Lily caught his eye as he glanced down to check her expression, hoping that he hadn't pushed them into territories that Lily wasn't ready to visit yet, even if they had just walked into the one territory that neither of them had _ever _wanted to walk into. Her lips forming the tiniest smile at the worry on his face, Lily nodded at him, one finger stroking the side of his cheek to let him know she was okay, that she was just scared for Quinn, that she would rather Sirius get his filthy hands off of her at that exact moment before he hurt her further. But she couldn't live Quinn's life for her, right? After all, Quinn was _never _serious.

The sudden grin on her face proved as much, her blue eyes glittering in the soft glow of the fire. She ran one hand through her still messy locks, winking at Lily as their eyes caught, a sign that everything was okay, that she was still the same person, no matter how many secrets would be uncovered, no matter what she was hiding from her as she opened her puffy lips to reply. "Well... he is, but my name is-" At the look on Lily's face, Quinn broke off, ignoring the laugh that was coming from the boy beside her and the half grin on James' face as he thought Lily wasn't looking, a grin that he quickly concealed with a abrupt cough.

Instead, she nodded, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth and staring down at her red shoes nervously, too afraid to meet her best friend's eyes. Not that what she said would matter, Sirius was nothing, he was just a boy, just a boy that she would end everything with if Lily asked. No one mattered to Quinn the way that Lily did. Without the swish of red hair that she saw every morning, she would feel lost, unsure of what way to go. She knew that she could never live life without her best friend, had already felt the pain of a loss before without losing Lily.

"Why didn't you tell me?" It was the first thing that Lily had spoken to the pair since they had entered the room, and Quinn felt her heart twang at the sound of genuine hurt in her sweet voice. Lily felt her cheeks grow wet with a sudden rush of tears caused only by the betrayal that she felt, losing the feeling that she could tell Quinn everything, that they would talk about everything, that they knew every single secret about each other. She would never have cared if Quinn had told her herself.

"I was too scared too admit it to myself!" Quinn snapped in reply, unaware of the tears spilling down the redhead's cheeks until too late, until the words had slipped her lips. It was only when they were out that she looked back up, noticed the salty tears dripping out of her eyes, and felt the same pang of guilt run through every one of her senses. "I'm sorry..." she continued, her voice softer and barely more than a whisper as she trailed off, desperate to do nothing other than hug Lily, but afraid off the response she would receive. Instead, she just swallowed, turning to Sirius and muttering for him to get the hell off her back if he wanted to see tomorrow in one piece. Needless to say, he dropped his hands. If only he'd drop the annoying grin.

Lily, catching Quinn's eye, smiled despite herself, noticing the glimmer of tears in the blue eyes staring back at her, before they were cast down once more, the dark eyelashes covering every trace of sadness that their ever was.

"Can I ask something?" James' voice came as a surprise to all of them, as he had been seated silently for the past few moments, feeling nothing but the awkward tension between the two girl slowly suffocating him. Words couldn't say how little he understood the emotions of seventeen year old girls when they were fighting – or at any time in fact. All eyes turned to him, he continued, a frown on his forehead. "Who wears the pants?"

The question was almost laughable, but no one other than Sirius laughed at it, to which he gained himself yet another smack to the shoulder, harder than the previous. He pouted up at Quinn, who shot him a sarcastic smile before turning back to Lily, whose smile seemed to have grown now that some of the tension had been smashed from James' words punching into it. "I think we've already established that they _don't." _

No _way _had Lily Evans just used sexual innuendo. No freaking way!

All three mouths dropped open as though synchronised only by her words. James stared down at the girl in his arms, pretty certain that he had never heard her say anything in the slightest bit as sexual, even if it was still extremely innocent. The tiniest hint of sexual innuendo from Lily's lips was enough to cause an outrage, the girl who never swore, the girl who was almost perfect in every way, the girl who had barely even _kissed _a boy until a few weeks ago. But an outrage wasn't what ensued, instead was the heavy thickness of silence once more sweeping over them as she stared questioningly around the circle, unsure as to what caused such quiet.

Not even an owl screeched, and with the silence came the realisation that all other Gryffindors had long ago cleared off to bed in the minutes that both James and Lily had traipsed down the stairs, Lily on the verge of causing an argument. _No one _wanted to be on the receiving end of that. Even Remus had shoved his books into a pile before dragging Peter away from the scene that enthralled him – though, it would be hard to find _anything _about James that didn't enthrall him in some way or other.

Breaking the silence was one word, spoken twice at the exact same moment. "Me."

The dark haired couple turned to each other, both pairs of eyes sparkling as they stared one another out. "No, _me,"_ Quinn repeated, gritting her teeth together as malice shot through her bright eyes. Sirius only shook his head, attempting instead to push her off the chair, before opening his mouth to reply.

Lily just shook her head, glancing up at James, who grinned down at her, both thinking the same thing as he tugged her hand to lead her once more up the stairs into the dormitories.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**A/N: **Alrightttyyy, well, now that's over with, tell me what you think about this chapter/their relationship. (If anyone wants to know more about the relationship, shoot me up, and I can tell you pretty much anything that you want to know because I've written a side along story about it all to go with it, for my personal enjoyment, hahaa - if you want to read that, just inbox me or review) I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't very Lily/James, and I'm sorry Lily was a little OOC at the start (It's hard to do horny Lily, she doesn't do it well xD), but I tried to get a decent amount in here, I guess this chapter was more about Lily and Quinn's friendship than anything else. THANK YOU FOR READING!


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